Cause and Manner
by JustJane18
Summary: Ten years after the destruction of Sunnydale the Scoobies are living in San Francisco with new careers and challenges. Can they continue to fight new evils while searching for love and happiness along the way?
1. Chapter 1

CAUSE AND MANNER

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AN-This story is set current day, ten years after the defeat of the First Evil and destruction of Sunnydale. Events occurred as depicted in the show with two major differences. Tara never came to Sunnydale and Anya didn't die. I have made some changes in historical facts, primarily that the United States suffered a prolonged drought which devastated food supplies followed by an economic collapse in 2008-2010 with significant legal and political implications. Times are hard and unsympathetic leaders are in charge. The focus will be primarily on Willow and Tara, but I love to write all the BTVS characters and have added a few of my own as well where needed. No copyright infringement is intended. I hope you enjoy this tale of more 'adult' Scoobies still finding ways to combat evil in all its forms and trying to find love along the way.

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Chapter One-A Heart Apart

The heart lay gently in her gloved hand as she turned it carefully evaluating each side of the external surface. Anterior, posterior, apex and base all appeared initially unremarkable. Taking up the scalpel she began to section through the coronary arteries that ran just beneath the exterior until her blade struck firmness. Applying more pressure with the sharp edge revealed hard yellow plaque lining the inner aspect and nearly occluding the lumen of the left anterior descending coronary artery, also known as the 'widow maker'.

Placing the heart down on the surface of the cutting board, she took a longer blade and made clean cuts of equal thickness through the muscle and placed them down on the surface before her for evaluation. As suspected, a firm white scar marred the otherwise red-brown muscle tissue in the anterior wall of the heart in the area supplied by the diseased vessel she had discovered.

She marveled at the simplicity of the process that had taken the life of the 52 year old businessman whose body was lying supine on a cart next to her and whose heart was in pieces before her. Block a major artery, stop blood flow to a portion of the crucial muscle which dies resulting in scar tissue. A ticking bomb waiting for extreme physical exertion to strike at the most inopportune time, such as an afternoon tryst with your mistress at an expensive downtown hotel when your wife believes you to be at an out of town business meeting. Le grande mort in the middle of le petite mort.

Even lying separate, severed from the vital connections to the body, the heart remained a fascination. Taken together with the knowledge of what it did during life, a delicate balance of electrical impulses taking spent blood into chambers and feeding it through the lungs to be oxygenated and returned to the body; that was a scientific wonder worth a lifetime of study.

Deeper still, one could probe the true meaning and purpose of the human heart. How it can physically ache at hurt and loss, how it can race and skip from joy and love. Sadly, she thought, she had experienced too much of the former and not enough of the later in her own history.

The heart can still be a source of destruction even after the beat has been lost, if you are a member of the undead. So many vampires she had staked over the last fifteen years, and that only a fraction of the number slain by her best friend and housemate, Buffy Summers, oldest of the hundred or so current vampire slayers scattered around the world. Those hearts would never be subject to her forensic evaluation, the redhead laughed to herself, seeing how it is hard to examine dust.

"Willow. Dr. Rosenberg. Earth to Rosenberg!"

The increasingly loud male voice finally clicked in her head and brought Willow out of her deep moment of introspection. "Oh. Hey boss. Sorry, I was just thinking about the heart." Willow answered the physician who had hired her two years ago and had been the man in charge of the office for the last twenty years, Dr. Allen Banks.

"I saw you just thinking. How about actually doing instead?" The older man spoke gruffly, but with an undertone of teasing and a wry smile on his face. "We've got ten more bodies in the incoming cooler; I need you to do at least one more autopsy today."

"No problem Chief. I'm on it. This one is straightforward coronary disease; I'll be done in a jiffy." Willow responded as she reached for a small tissue jar filled with formalin at the cutting station.

After selecting the worst areas of damaged tissue, Willow Rosenberg, MD, cut small sections of the heart and a few of other major organs to place in the jar. These would be processed, stained and returned on glass slides for her review under the microscope in a few days. Finishing up, she nodded to her assistant who placed the organs in a red biohazard bag which went into the main body cavity that was then loosely stitched for transport to the funeral home.

Stripping off her protective plastic gown, gloves and face shield, Willow exited the morgue and headed down the administrative hall. It had taken over a year, but she finally had a doorplate identifying that the office belonged to Dr. Willow Rosenberg, Deputy Medical Examiner and in smaller letters beneath, North/Central Region, State of California.

The office itself was a typical government 8 X 12 rectangle and as a junior member of the staff, she had not yet earned the privilege of a window with a view, but it was her own personal space at least. A surplus metal desk and squeaky rolling chair took up most of the space not occupied by the voluminous bookshelves that lined the walls. Two straight-backed visitor chairs sat in front of the desk, but one was stacked with papers and journals that had found no place available on the overflowing shelves.

"Coffee. I need an espresso badly. Preferably a direct intravenous infusion." A tall brunette slumped into the single spare chair, managing to drape herself elegantly while looking exhausted at the same time. "You'll help a friend out with that fancy machine of yours, right?"

"You're my only friend here and you know it Elise. Go get some water and I'll grind." Willow turned to her one office indulgence, a top of the line countertop espresso machine that sat on a small table in the back corner of the office. When she had started working at the department, she found the ancient break room communal coffee pot contained a bitter watery liquid over a layer of thick black sludge, neither of which was drinkable.

She had also found a friend in Elise Jones, another of the Deputy Medical Examiners with about eight years' experience. The offer of free espresso might have started their friendship, but Willow had found Elise to be an incredibly intelligent and savvy forensic pathologist who was willing to mentor the young redhead on things both medical and political in the office.

The two had barely taken their first sip when a short cropped balding brown head that sat over a sour visage appeared in the doorway. "There are more cases you two. I'm headed back to start my second."

Elise didn't even turn to acknowledge the speaker, rolling her eyes at Willow to show her displeasure. "When we have taken our quick coffee break, we will both do another case James. And it will be my third today."

Willow couldn't hide her snigger as the brown haired man left in a huff. James Pierce was a co-worker and one of the other seven Deputy Medical Examiners for the North/Central California region. He had been with the office for six years and had been at a different office for four before moving to California. He clearly viewed himself as being in an administrative position of authority based on his experience, but the Chief Medical Examiner had not named him, or anyone else, as the Assistant Chief since the State ordered office consolidation two years ago. James was a climber with political connections, but his work as a forensic pathologist was mediocre.

"Insolent prick. Who the fuck does he think he is? I'm getting really tired of that asshat thinking he is our boss already." Elise commented coolly in contrast to her colorful word choice.

Willow laughed and almost snorted out a gulp of her espresso. Elise was full of interesting contradictions. She was a brilliant forensic pathologist with a reputation as the fastest in the office, yet she never missed the smallest detail. She was strikingly beautiful in a tall lean sort of way, but her wardrobe was utilitarian and her makeup sparse. She had married young to her college sweetheart and had two school age children who she adored and who exasperated her in equal measure. And her language was legendary. She had a vocabulary that a lifelong sailor would be hard pressed to keep up with.

"I don't know what I'd do without you around here to cut the tension." Willow smiled as her friend finished up her coffee.

"Let's hope neither one of us ever has to find out. I think it's safe to say we both really need these jobs and having you around makes it enjoyable and not just tolerable Willow." The brunette responded kindly. "I guess we better get back down there before James complains to the boss about me, again. I don't know why he thinks I'm such a threat; I never want to run this place."

Willow pondered her friend's statements as they walked back towards the morgue. She certainly did need the job, and for more reasons than Elise understood. The money was important, she had medical school loans to pay off and other bills, but being a Medical Examiner gave her access to information about deaths occurring all over north and central California, including the entire San Francisco bay area, Sacramento and the central agricultural regions.

Already in her two years here she had identified several vampire and demon related murders and Buffy had been able to take Slayer action based on the information. On the books, the murders would unfortunately remain unsolved, but she felt good knowing justice had been served and further deaths prevented with her help.

The two female medical examiners arrived at the entryway to the morgue where several clipboards hung on the wall, each with a single sheet of paper displaying the basic pertinent information of the cases remaining to autopsy that day. Name if known, age if known, circumstances if known, description of the death scene and any obvious injuries.

Elise grabbed the top clipboard with a defeated sigh. "Damn. Domestic homicide. Looks like a strangulation out of San Jose." She looked over at the redhead. "Catch you for a late lunch, Ok? This may take me a while."

Willow nodded and reached for the next clipboard. Jennifer Clausen, age 42, married, no children, found hanging by a dog leash off the balcony of the townhouse she owned with her husband. Mrs. Clausen was a PhD research biologist with Pharm Ag Industries, but had recently been fired.

Pharm Ag Industries or PAI was the largest corporation in California having developed from a warehouse in Richmond rented by a couple of science geeks to become the biggest employer of high tech chemists and biologists as well as the employer of most agricultural workers in the state. The combination was unusual, but so was PAI. The company had developed the serum for the 'pacification program' used to mollify and control the laborers who performed the bulk of the work growing, harvesting and producing the food consumed by Americans.

Following the great drought of 08-09 and subsequent economic collapse, PAI had positioned itself as the great savior of the country, providing 'solutions' to skyrocketing food prices and severe shortages while gaining control of the infrastructure of California's agricultural industry.

Perhaps Ms. Clausen was just one of the countless secondary victims of the economic collapse who could not face a jobless future and took a different way out.

Just as she was about to read on to the details of the scene, a hand reached over her shoulder and swiftly lifted the clipboard out of her grasp.

"I'll take that case." Dr. Pierce stated confidently as he stepped towards the morgue door.

"I thought you hated suicides." Willow knew she should just keep her mouth shut, but she was annoyed at him taking the clipboard away from her when there were several more cases to choose from.

"I don't know what you mean Dr. Rosenberg. I do a full range of cases and I resent the implication that I avoid certain types. As I will now demonstrate by handling this hanging." The brown haired man tried to look insulted as he rested the clipboard on his protruding belly.

"Fine, I'll just take the next one." Willow tried to appear casual as she selected another clipboard and scanned down the page. "This motorcycle accident from Chico."

James nodded as if approving the selection and moved through the door into the main autopsy suite.

"Not like I needed your permission." Willow muttered to herself before following him into the morgue to start her own case.

The incident with James Pierce didn't cross Willow's mind again until she was riding the BART train back to San Francisco from the office location in Oakland. She knew for a fact that he intensely disliked suicide cases and actively avoided them. He had commented on several occasions that families of the decedents often refused to accept that a loved one had killed themselves and would insist on speaking directly to the Medical Examiner, and he felt uncomfortable talking to family members.

Willow didn't understand why he had gone into forensics. Talking to bereaved family was often difficult, but they were usually grateful that someone would take the time to speak to them and explain all the medical jargon in terms they could understand.

Why then would James not only willingly take such a case, but literally take it out of her hands? Something in the back of her Scooby mind signaled a warning and she decided to pay more attention to the case selection of James Pierce in the future.

The redhead relaxed into the seat thinking about her life as the train rumbled under 135 feet of water of the San Francisco bay. Living in the city had been an easy choice after Sunnydale was destroyed. Buffy was ready to do something else with her life other than full-time Slaying and there was no question that Willow would stay at her best friend's side wherever life took them. Dawn needed to finish high school someplace stable and Xander had convinced Anya to settle down with the Scoobies. The hacker had 'modified' her UC Sunnydale transcript to allow her to immediately apply for medical school at UC San Francisco and Buffy had finished a degree in criminalistics at San Francisco State.

After the First Evil had been destroyed along with their hometown, Buffy had announced she was semi-retiring. She planned to help out as needed in San Francisco, but would not work full time as a Slayer. Most of the newly activated slayers had gone to Cleveland with Giles and Faith where they had set up a sort of training facility. Faith was focused on controlling the vampire and demon population at that Hellmouth, now the most active in the world. Giles was focused on identifying and training the new slayers as well as some new watchers.

A few months after leaving Sunnydale, Willow had come across an announcement that the city was auctioning off several old firehouses that were obsolete. She convinced Giles to pry into the remaining Watcher's Council funds to purchase the three story building in the Tenderloin district of the city and remodel it for their use. The top floor was now a separate apartment for Xander and Anya. The second floor held a suite in the back with bedrooms for Willow and Buffy with a common kitchen and living space. The front had several small guest rooms with another galley kitchen and a large meeting room. The first floor held the street front office for Buffy and Xander's private investigation and security firm and a small private office for Willow's witchy and hacker research material. The back portion was a training and weapons room where Buffy sometimes gave self-defense classes.

All in all the trio of high school friends was doing remarkably well, or so Willow told herself. They had survived multiple apocalypses, grown into adults with careers that had purpose and helped to raise Dawn into an accomplished young woman who was now a reporter on the crime beat with the San Francisco Chronicle.

But for all that, Willow knew what was missing, at least in her life and in Buffy's. They had both dated over the years, but none of their relationships ever seemed to stick. Every man the Slayer dated backed away from her after they found out about her unusual strength and talents.

The longest was a two year relationship with a good looking cop who had gone so far as to offer to help Buffy with a vampire nest that had taken up residence in a small cave near a local beach. The first glimpse of ridged foreheads and fangs had sent him running. He later claimed Buffy must have given him PCP to fuel his hallucination, a charge that made the Scoobies laugh thinking back to all the 'drug gang' attacks the residents of Sunnydale had suffered according to the local police.

The laughter simply covered the pain of yet another failed relationship for Buffy.

The redhead herself had been subject to much mirth from her friends regarding her love life. Not being able to decide which gender she was interested in hadn't helped. She had dated Oz in high school and into college, but he had left to find a way to control the werewolf and she hadn't seen him since. She had been involved with Kennedy during the year leading up to the battle with the First, but after Sunnydale both women had agreed the relationship didn't have a future and they had parted amicably.

Since then medical school followed by four years of pathology residency hadn't given her much time to date. A few awkward dates with a very nice but shy fellow medical student named Collin had led to an uncomfortable make out session at his apartment where his fumbling hands and her obvious disinterest in that aspect of the relationship had encouraged her early departure for home and decision not to go out with any more men.

She had met an attractive woman at a Wicca group she had attended during residency and they had dated for several months. They had slept together, but the sex had quickly turned more comfortable than passionate and Willow was almost relieved when the woman had been transferred to the East Coast for her job.

So here she was in the city of the gays for the last decade and she couldn't seem to find the right woman. The sound of the train pulling into the Embarcadero Station caught her attention and she readied herself to get off two stops later. 'Maybe someday Ms. Right will walk into my life,' she tried to think hopefully. But as she exited the train and headed out onto the street the reality of her life struck again. 'Hard to imagine since most people I meet now are zipped up in a body bag and rolled in on a cart.'


	2. Chapter 2-Behind Bars and Gates

Chapter Two-Behind Bars and Gates

Tara flinched involuntarily at the harsh clang of the metal door as the lock slammed shut behind her. She kept her arms wrapped tightly around herself as the guard led her down a short hallway and deposited her in front of a second guard seated behind glass, bulletproof the blonde assumed.

"Visitor for Maclay, Donnie." The first guard called out before heading back down towards the entrance of the Sacramento County Jail.

"Sign on the next line." The guard instructed pointing at a clipboard on the counter in front of her. "No weapons, no alcohol, no drugs, no cigarettes, no food and no prolonged touching or making out."

"I'm here to see my brother." Tara could barely lift her eyes off the floor to sign her name.

"Whatever. Violate the rules and you get your own cell no waiting, got it?"

The blonde nodded and scurried through the visitor door when she heard the lock buzz open. She was immediately overwhelmed by the number of people in the cafeteria style room. Round tables with the bases secured to the floor covered much of the space and extra folding chairs were set up around the perimeter against the long walls.

Most of the tables and chairs were occupied by women, many with children, and male inmates distinguished by the neon orange jumpsuits they wore. Many of the women were crying, as were several of the inmates.

Raw emotional pain assaulted her empathic senses before she had a chance to place a protective barrier on her psyche. The depths of the misery brought tears to her eyes and almost sent her to her knees. A deep centering breath came instinctually and allowed her a moment to block out the sadness and fear surrounding her from all sides before she found two empty chairs along the far back wall and sat down to wait for her brother.

She had borrowed a car from her landlady, Mrs. Darby, a pleasant 70 year old widow who rented her a simple over the garage apartment five years ago. She needed a car for the drive from Berkeley and had promised the woman who was like her grandmother now a full wash and detailing on her return.

During the drive she had time to think about how much to tell her older brother about her life. It had been six years since they had spoken when following her graduation from Cal with a degree in Environmental Economics and Policy she had refused to return home to the Maclay farm and had stayed in the Bay area to work for a nonprofit farm workers organization. Her father and brother had seen her decision as a slap in the face and severed all contact, not that there had been much since she had left home for college four years previously.

She had discovered the lie behind her father's insistence that she would manifest a demon aspect not long after her twentieth birthday. Years of verbal abuse and occasional physical 'discipline' following her mother's death had left her shy and timid. But her desire to learn more about her Wiccan heritage had led her to find her Aunt who had left the area long before her mother's passing. The older woman had explained she had little ability herself, but that Tara had likely inherited her mother's significant natural talents as a witch and that had always frightened her father. Any 'demon' story was likely just a contrivance to keep her working at the farm under his control. She had left two months later and moved to Berkeley to start at the university.

The truth was Tara loved and missed the farm. She was an early riser by nature and found caring for the animals and growing crops provided a physical connection to the land and spiritual fulfillment as a Wiccan. Her empathic nature craved solace and the life of a farmer certainly provided that in abundance.

But she could not abide the personal abuse of her father or the treatment of the migrant workers necessary to bring in a profitable crop each year. Then the drought had come and the conditions for the workers got even worse. They were living in inhumane conditions and dying from dehydration and ironically starvation.

When the migrants revolted against the huge corporate farms, the big money stepped in and started a public relations campaign centered around 'the violent criminal illegals' who were endangering the already depleted food supplies and making prices skyrocket for 'ordinary real Americans'. Then the stock market crashed, the banks collapsed and the economy headed into depression.

The elections of 2010 saw a wave of far right, anti-government, anti-immigrant conservatives elected to local, state and national positions, mostly under the banner of the American Patriots First Party (APFP). The democratic president became an immediate lame duck and could do little to stop the deluge of legislation that followed. The APFP created a massive border police force, wrote strict deportation laws, and built the 'Great Wall of the Americas' along much of the Mexican border at enormous expense.

Not surprisingly immigration, both legal and illegal, decreased. The APFP claimed the success of their harsh policies while ignoring the reality that no one wants to come to a country with an unemployment rate of 22%, no civil liberties, and high crime. With the liberals in disarray, the 2012 elections simply solidified the hold of the APFP on Congress and placed an ultra-conservative friend in the White House.

Tara had persevered working for the farm workers organization, but donations to the nonprofit were slim and that translated into little income. She started supplementing her meager pay with aura readings, mostly charging rich wives who wanted to know if their husbands were cheating. She wasn't proud of using her heritage to make money, but it allowed her to spend her time helping people who had so few on their side.

Then the Pacification Program started. Suddenly the corporate farms needed fewer workers, and by the evidence to date, soon they wouldn't need to hire any. She shuddered to think of what was said about the 'pacified' workers. How they were zombies without emotion who would work until they dropped unless ordered to stop for water and food breaks by the farm managers.

That was why she was here, waiting in this room filled to the brim with hopelessness. Despite all that had gone on in the past, Donnie was still her brother. He had called in desperation, but she would hear him out and do what she could to help him avoid the possibility of pacification.

When he appeared at the inmate door, Tara had to stifle a gasp. Donnie looked at least a decade older than his thirty five years and he was sporting a blue-green shiner over his left eye.

She stood to get his attention and saw him smile for a second before he tried to raise his hands and was reminded of the cuffs that bound them. When he approached her, Tara wasn't sure what to do, deciding on a quick hug before sitting again.

"Thanks for coming. I wasn't sure you would, but I didn't have anyone else to call." Donnie started.

"I don't mind Donnie. But what about Dad? Couldn't he help you out, get you bail?"

Donnie looked at the floor between their chairs. "He won't come. I called him when I got arrested and he said not to call him again, that he wouldn't be able to help a druggie. He said he can't leave the farm anyway with the corporations always trying to sabotage things to get him to sell."

Tara found herself shaking her head lightly. Her father had always prized his discipline and enforced strict behavior with severe consequences. Apparently Donnie had crossed one of his many imaginary lines and was now not worthy of assistance. Now Donald Maclay Sr. had succeeded in driving away both of his children.

"What happened? To get you in here?" Tara asked softly, leaning forward when her brother began speaking quietly.

"I was driving to see a friend in town. I stopped for gas and had driven another mile or so when all of sudden there are three cop cars, two in front of me and one coming up behind. They searched me and found a baggie with powder in my wallet and that gave them the excuse to search my car. They found a kilo wrapped and tucked into the spare tire in the trunk."

Suddenly the sandy-haired man placed his cuffed hands on Tara's knees. "I can handle the baggie possession charge Sis, I kinda deserve that. But the stuff in the trunk was a plant. I ain't no dealer."

Tara willed herself to relax and placed her hands over her brother's. "What can I do Donnie? I want to help, but I don't have any money. Is there someone I can contact for you? Friends maybe?"

"They can't help. Most of them don't have jobs. I just don't know why someone would do this to me, set me up like that!" Donnie voice had risen to the point that one of the guards started to come over.

Tara sent out a trickle of calming energy through their linked hands. Donnie quieted and then squinted for a moment before sitting up with a grin on his face.

"Magick. You could do some witchy thing and spring me outta here, right?"

Tara looked at him sadly. "That's not my kind of magick Donnie."

Suddenly the anger and unpredictability she remembered from childhood was back.

"Fine. Then just leave me here to rot. I don't know what I was thinking calling you. You were never anything but a worthless weirdo."

Tara sighed and started to get up to leave.

"Oh God Tara, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. Please don't go." The anger dissipated as fast as it had started and now Donnie was crying softly in front of her. "It's this place. It's terrible. I can't sleep. I had to fight someone last night, that's how I got the shiner."

The siblings sat facing each other, neither speaking for several minutes. Finally a guard came by and tapped Donnie on the shoulder. "Five minutes."

Donnie looked up at the guard and then at Tara. "My trial is in six weeks since I can't make bail. If there is anything you can do. . ."

Tara reached up and touched her brother on the cheek. "I'll try Donnie. I'll come up with something, anyway I can."

"I know you'll try Sis, you were always good that way. Listen, if I get convicted on everything I'm facing a minimum of 25 years at San Quentin. I can't do that kind of time in that place, it makes the jail here look like kindergarten. They'll probably offer me Pacification Program instead of prison."

Donnie stood up as the guard came back to take him to his cell. "I guess in a way it would be like just going back to work on the farm, right?"

Tara stood up and gave him another quick hug. "Don't do it Donnie, not Pacification. You don't know what I've heard about those people."

The guard held Donnie by the elbow now, leading him away as he spoke over his shoulder. "I'm sorry I treated you so bad when we were growing up Tara. You deserved better."

* * *

The occult shop Anya managed was well off the beaten path, literally. A quiet street turned into an alley at the end of which was a vine covered wooden gate containing a crescent shaped carving. A small sign announced 'The Waxing Moon' and below 'Friends Enter'. If you ventured on through the gate, a hidden courtyard with statues of the Goddesses and fountains amid growing flowers and herbs led to the surprisingly spacious shop at the back.

After voicing her displeasure loudly in the middle of several crystal and metaphysical bookstores around town that they were 'cheap knockoffs', Anya had found The Waxing Moon to serve the real Magickal community in the Bay area as well as offering nice products and gifts for the lucky non-magickal customers who wandered in. She had started part-time and had quickly taken over as the weekday manager when the out-of-town owner saw how sales had increased on Anya's shifts.

When the chime rang signaling someone had entered the store early on a Monday, the ex-demon assumed the new arrival was probably a tourist. The early week was usually quiet and allowed her to catch up on internet orders from the weekend and restock. She called out a greeting from her office with a neutral "let me know if I can help you with anything" to which she received no response.

Several minutes later Anya realized the store was quiet, but she had not heard the door chime again indicating a departure. Now feeling vaguely annoyed, she strode into the main shop area to find a young blonde seated on the floor near the bookshelves with a volume on masking and glamour spells open in her lap. The ex-demon went from annoyed to angry when she saw the exposed pages of the expensive book were wrinkled and the ink running from a constant stream of tears that flowed down the cheeks of the blonde and had clearly been dripping into her lap for some time.

"You will have to buy that now, to pay for the damage."

The young blonde leapt to her feet, ungainly attempting to balance while at the same time wiping the tears from her face. She looked at the shopkeeper with fearful eyes and then back down to the ground where the book lay open.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize. . ." The blonde started when the combination of her emotional state and sudden jump up from the floor combined to temporarily deprive her brain of sufficient oxygen to remain conscious and standing.

"Oh no you don't, no passing out in the shop!" Anya tried to shout but could only reach out her arms to slow the descent of the young woman to the floor. "Fainting isn't good for business."

* * *

Tara noticed the calming scent of sandalwood in the air before she opened her eyes. When she did she had no idea where she was, but the surroundings were comfortable and soothing. She heard water flowing in the background and saw a table covered with a variety of dried herbs in various stages of packaging.

"Good, you're awake. Are you injured in some way? Do you have a medical condition? Should we call an ambulance?"

The speaker was a concerned looking woman with shoulder length light brown hair that Tara now recognized as the shopkeeper who had startled her earlier.

"W-w-w-where am I? How d-did I get here?" Tara could not imagine the small woman could have moved her on her own and she did not recognize where she was. On top of that she was stuttering, something she rarely did anymore.

"Xander? Get in here. She's awake and trying to speak."

A dark haired man appeared in the doorway a moment later and smiled at her.

"Hi. You had us worried. I'm Xander, and that is Anya, my wife." The man indicated with a gesture of his hand. "She called me and said a woman had passed out in the shop and I came over and moved you here, to the couch in the prep room. I hope that is Ok."

Tara sat up and relaxed into the seat. "Yes. Thank you. That was very kind."

"Can I get you a glass of water?" Xander asked.

"I don't want to bother you anymore." Tara wasn't sure she could stand up yet, she still felt weak and overwhelmed.

"It's water, in a glass. No trouble. I'll be right back." The dark haired man smiled and disappeared through the doorway.

"Well, that hasn't happened to me before, at least not since Sunnydale. Of course there you probably would have fallen over dead in the shop, not been just unconscious." The woman now identified as Anya looked away with misty eyes. "I sort of miss those days sometime, it was exciting."

"Don't frighten the customer An." Xander had returned with the promised water.

"Oh, she's not a customer, are you?" Anya focused back on Tara, patting her arm as she spoke.

Xander's eyebrows knitted a little in confusion. "I thought she was looking at a book out front honey."

"She was. But she's a witch. A real one if I'm not mistaken, right. . . whatever your name is?"

Tara was completely thrown by the woman's comments. "Tara. I'm Tara. How did you know?"

"When I touched you. You were falling and I helped you not hurt yourself." Anya grinned. "I don't have any power anymore, but I can still tell when someone else does, and you have power."

"I don't. Well, not much really. I just needed to look for something that might help my brother, that's why I was reading the spell book."

Suddenly the blonde remembered the volume she had been reading when she was overcome with grief and had ruined the pages with her tears. "The spell book! I'm so sorry I damaged it. Of course I'll pay for it, how much is it?"

"That volume was from 1929, an original. It will cost me hundreds to replace it." Anya announced.

Tara slumped back into the couch. "Hundreds? Oh Goddess, I don't have that kind of money." She looked down into her lap as she tried to hold back the tears in her eyes. "I don't really have any money."

"Well that's just great. What am I supposed to do? That will definitely cut into my profits." Anya had thrown her hands up as she spoke.

"Not helping Anya." Xander tried to shush his wife as he sat down on the couch next to the blonde. "Can I ask, what did you need the spell for?"

Tara sensed the kindness in the man next to her and didn't see that she had anything to lose. "I was looking for glamour to get my brother out of jail. He's been arrested for something he didn't do and I'm so scared of what might happen to him."

The blonde looked up at the man and saw her sad expression returned. "I was crying out there because I knew I couldn't use a spell to help him escape. I don't have that kind of ability and it wouldn't be right. I just don't know what else to do."

Xander paused for a moment before reaching into his wallet and taking out a business card. "Come to this address tomorrow, around six o'clock. You can talk to my partner and me about your brother's case. Maybe there is something we can do to help if what you say is true."

Tara looked at the simple white card in her hand with the name Chosen Investigations and Security Services, an address in the city and a telephone number.

"Thank you for this Xander, but you know I can't pay. As it is I am going to have to figure out how to reimburse you for the book." Tara stated as she tried to return the card only to have the man gently push her hand back.

"Keep it. Come tomorrow. We work on sort of a sliding scale for payment, as in if you have money, you pay." Xander looked up at Anya. "As for the book damage, aren't you still looking for some reliable weekend help? Someone who actually knows about magick? Maybe Tara could work some shifts."

The blonde's mouth fell open. "You'd give me a job? Here? That would be amazing! I could work whatever hours you needed on the weekend."

Anya scowled for a moment at her husband before looking at the blonde witch. "Do you know herbs?"

Tara got up and scanned the work table behind the ex-demon for a moment. "Most of these mixes are heavy on the jasmine and lavender. Good for baths and sleep and most people like them for the pleasant scent really."

As the blonde walked toward the far end of the long table she started to blush. "Umm. These mixes are different. Ginseng, hibiscus, saffron. These are well, aphrodisiacs."

"Aphro whats?" The dark haired man looked confused.

Anya laughed loudly. "Sex Xander. I was working on the love and lust collections this morning."

The shopkeeper looked at the embarrassed blonde, still gleeful. "You're hired."


	3. Chapter 3-Cookouts and Coffee Dates

Chapter Three-Cookouts and Coffee Dates

For the last five years most Sunday afternoons at the Scooby Firehouse had been devoted to what Xander had termed 'the neighborhood cookout'. The reality was more akin to a soup kitchen, although the Scoobies had adamantly refused to ever serve soup. The residents of the Tenderloin district of San Francisco had been hit hard during the economic collapse and the unemployment rate in the area was far above the already elevated rate of the city and state. Some blocks had reverted back to their worst days of drug distribution and prostitution, but people in the area noticed that the streets directly around the old Firehouse were somehow safer and the free Sunday meals were welcomed by many.

At three o'clock the doors to the large space downstairs would open and families from the area would join together for a hearty meal of chili or spaghetti or some other simple but filling fare. Any leftovers would be packed up for the families with children and Buffy would make sure everyone was fed and headed home before night came to the often dangerous part of the city.

The meals had been Willow's idea. She saw the end effects of poverty and drug use every day at work and wanted to do something to help. She also thought it would be good to integrate themselves more into the community since they were all outsiders. Having friends around them could never hurt, and it had always seemed they were so isolated in Sunnydale.

The second part of the tradition occurred after the cookout was complete. The weekly Scooby update on any potential supernatural events in the area was held, usually accompanied by popcorn or ice cream and often followed by movie night. This Sunday evening found Dawn speaking first while the others fought over a bowl of buttery hot corn.

"We are doing an article on a cluster of deaths that have occurred in a three block area of Haight-Ashbury, near Golden Gate Park over the last month. All with 'puncture wounds'. Have you seen or heard anything about that Willow?"

"Not specifically, no. Sometimes if people are transported to the hospital and then pronounced dead, we don't realize there is a geographical cluster. Puncture wounds could just mean drug injection sites and we have been getting an abundance of drug overdoses. I'll keep my eye out for a trend or unusual puncture sites." Willow frowned at Xander as she realized he had gobbled up the last few bites of popcorn while she had been talking.

"Thhorry." The dark-haired man responded sheepishly around a full mouth.

Buffy rolled her eyes at her two best friends. "I'll do a patrol over in that area to check it out. Thanks Dawn." The Slayer turned to Anya. "Anything strange happen at the shop this week?"

"No. Walk-ins are slow this time of year with all the rain, but the internet sales are booming. Oh, and I hired someone for weekends. A witch in fact. I'm hopeful she will work out since she already owes me money for ruining a book."

Willow's head shot up at Anya's comment. "A real witch? She damaged a book and you hired her? I would have thought you would call the cops."

Anya scowled at the redhead. "Yes, a real witch. I mean, she didn't cast any spells, but I felt power on her and she admitted it. She knows her way around herbs too."

Willow couldn't help but feel a little excited. It had been so long since she had talked to another real witch. Without the draw of the Hellmouth, the few she had met over the last ten years had very little power and she had never felt a real connection with any she had come across in San Francisco. She hadn't cast with anyone except Giles and post-rat Amy since high school, and those experiences hadn't all been positive. Maybe she could stop by the shop sometime and meet this woman.

"She's supposed to stop by our office tomorrow to talk about this thing with her brother. I told her we would listen, see if we could help." Xander added.

Buffy tilted her head at her business partner. "A non-paying potential client I assume. What was she pretty and crying?"

Anya barked out laughter. "Oh, she has you pegged my adoring husband. Never could refuse a damsel in distress!"

Xander was still blushing as he tried to change the subject. "Well, it might be more interesting than our current client. That girl is a royal pain in the butt. I don't care how much her Daddy is paying us to watch her, it isn't enough. She snuck out at midnight on Thursday and I found her drinking and dancing with three bikers at this crappy bar in San Rafael. Thank god for the GPS we put on her phone."

Buffy looked less than sympathetic. "Hey, I'm sharing the load on this one, remember? Mr. Flint is paying top dollar for us to keep his teenager in line during the week when he is busy and his wife is in Europe. I know it isn't exactly exciting crime fighting, but we can handle one adolescent a few evenings a week for a few months, right Xander?"

"Of course." Xander looked over to see a familiar glint in his wife's eye and stood up, taking her hand. "And on that note, I need to get started on my evening of groveling and apologizing for offering help to a pretty girl, even though I proclaim my intentions were true, right honey?"

Anya swatted him playfully on the rear as they started towards the stairs to their apartment. "You've got that right."

With the meeting participants all drifting away Willow headed to her small office downstairs thinking about magick. She had trouble remembering the last time she had cast anything other than general protection spells on the firehouse and the Scoobies themselves. That saddened the part of her that still loved the feeling magick could give her, the feeling that magick had brought her when she first started practicing in high school.

But those early positive emotions had been tainted by experiences in college. The spell she almost cast on Oz in her lovesick grief. Her 'my will be done' spell. The spiral into using more dark magick during the long months after Glory to try and keep up patrols with the Buffy Bot. The Slayer's resurrection and the sad time that followed until she had found herself taking what Rack offered, like a drug, and hurting Dawn in a car wreck.

Both Buffy and Giles had stepped up with the tough love at that point. She remembered her weeks with the coven at Devon, learning the foundations of the craft that she had skipped over in her desire to get to the offensive skills. The dark magick withdrawals had been a painful lesson, one that gave her a mature appreciation for the power inside of her and caution in using her gift.

She had used magick to help during the battle with the First Evil and had ultimately been responsible for activating the Potentials into Slayers worldwide, but since then her hacking and forensic skills had provided as much assistance as the occasional spell.

Which led her back to thinking about the witch Anya had hired. What if she could talk about magick with someone who really understood? What if she was interested in casting together or she knew of other local witches? Willow had assembled a respectable library of magickal reference texts. Maybe she could offer her resources to the mystery witch.

Well, for now that could wait. She booted up her private office laptop and quickly entered the backdoor she had created for easy access to the Medical Examiner's database. Plugging in a few search terms, she waited to see if the information Dawn had provided yielded anything concerning for Vampire activity.

The system was so slow it drove her to distraction. It had been designed by James Pierce with promises of quick accessible information on all of the cases handled at the office. But the program was so full of errors and inefficiencies, he and Willow were really the only two doctors who could use the system at all. Ironically, her computer prowess was one of the reasons the redhead had retained her job through all the government cutbacks despite her lack of seniority.

Finally the results came up on the screen under the heading Dead and Unidentified Management System. Willow had joked to Elise at the office that only James Pierce would name a program and not realize the acronym was DUMS. Scanning through the tabulations quickly showed her that Dawn's article was likely to show only a sad collection of drug overdoses concentrated in a small area.

Closing the laptop, Willow looked through her bookshelves for a text she had picked up in England and never read. She had always hoped one day to have a reason, and now maybe she would. She settled into the loveseat in the corner of the office and opened to the first chapter of 'Casting Together: A Guide to Covening.'

* * *

By the time Willow got back to the firehouse on Monday evening, it was much later than usual. She started work painfully early in the morning for a lifelong night owl, but the reward was usually being home by six o'clock. Not tonight. The computer system had gliched again and she had stayed late to put together a patch. She was surprised to see the light on in the office of Chosen Investigation and Security Services and to hear Buffy and Xander talking to someone.

The redhead paused near the open door when she heard Buffy speaking quietly, but with a certain sternness.

"Tara, it's just, well, by your own account you haven't been around your brother for several years. Have you considered the possibility that he might have gotten into something he couldn't handle?"

Willow heard a deep sigh and then a quiet melodic voice. "I know it seems difficult to believe, but I know my brother. He isn't the smartest, but he isn't a drug dealer. And I could see in his aura, when I talked to him, he was telling the truth."

"You can read auras?" Buffy sounded surprised.

Willow didn't hear the answer she was so distracted by a surge of excitement when she realized that Tara must be the witch Anya had hired at the shop.

Now the Slayer was sighing. "I'm just not sure what we can do. For starters this all took place in Sacramento; I don't have many contacts there."

"I understand." The response came in a trembling voice.

Now Willow heard the mystery witch start to sniffle. Was she crying?

"I don't have a way to pay you anyway." A chair scrapped the floor. "Thank you for your time, Buffy, and you too Xander."

She was definitely crying, the redhead realized. For some reason that made her stomach feel all acidy.

Another chair scrapped. "Don't cry Tara. The money doesn't matter. We can check it out, right Buffy?"

Now it was Xander, obviously trying to comfort the witch. Somehow, that didn't make Willow feel much better, she needed to do something. Not having a clue what that something was, she found her feet had carried her into the office doorway where she found herself looking at Xander's back as he hugged the smaller woman, blocking Willow's view.

"I shouldn't be crying or burdening you with this. You have both been so nice to me, and Xander's wife gave me a job. I just don't know what to do."

"We'll see what we can find out Tara. I just don't want you to get your hopes up, Ok?" Buffy sounded much more sympathetic now.

Willow was definitely feeling bothered by the prolonged hug Xander was still engaged in with the witch.

"Buffy?" Willow couldn't come up with anything else to say to announce her presence.

"Willow! Hey, you're home." Buffy on the other hand seemed almost relieved to have the tense situation interrupted. "Tara, this is my best friend Willow. Doctor Willow Rosenberg, this is Tara Maclay."

Willow frowned at Buffy for throwing Doctor into the introduction, but stepped forward hoping the still unseen guest would reveal herself. She could sense that Xander had released his hold and the woman had stepped back to collect herself. Willow waited patiently until she was ready.

When the mystery witch moved out from behind Xander, it was Willow who found she was completely unprepared. Her mouth opened slightly and a small squeaking sound came out when Tara stepped in front of her and held out her hand.

The redhead was frozen. The person Xander had been hugging, the witch Anya had hired and Buffy was trying to help was the most captivating woman Willow had ever seen. Long blonde hair fell loosely onto her shoulders framing a soft expressive face. But it was the eyes that had the redhead speechless. Crystal clear blue shone out through a prism of tears being held back from release. Willow felt she could fall into those eyes full of deep emotion and never want to return.

Xander looked from Willow to Tara and then over to Buffy with a shrug. Nobody was moving. "Hey Will? You Ok?"

Willow jumped slightly at Xander's words and looked down at Tara's still outstretched hand, thinking she must have looked a little silly.

"Sorry. Nice to meet you Tara. I'm Willow, Rosenberg. Like Buffy just told you." The redhead reached out and took Tara's hand in her own, trying for a polite handshake to stop her mouth from continuing to run.

Now it was Tara's turn to be surprised. She gave out a slight gasp and squeezed Willow's hand tighter.

"You're a witch!"

Willow smiled. "You can tell? That's awesome. I can't do that, although I can do other things. I haven't done very much magick lately. Mostly protection spells and the occasion Vampire flaming. I used to do a lot more in Sunnydale."

The two women were still standing holding hands in the middle of the office, Buffy and Xander all but forgotten.

"Y-y-you used to live in Sunnydale?" Tara had heard of the Hellmouth cursed town. She had been offered a scholarship to UC-Sunnydale as a senior in high school, but her father had declined before she could even consider it. Then a few years later the city had been destroyed in what was reported to be an earthquake, although she had wondered what really happened.

"Born and raised until the city was, well, razed. We all lived there, and then moved here." Willow gestured to Buffy and Xander as if suddenly remembering that they were still in the room. She then looked down and dropped her hand, somewhat embarrassed that she had been grasping onto the blonde for so long.

"That's why you all know about magick, believe in it." Tara spoke her thought out loud.

"Yeah, that's part of it. It's kind of a long story." Willow couldn't stop staring at the gorgeous blonde. Her whole body was humming and she was practically bouncing on her toes. "Umm, I could tell you about it sometime. And we could talk about magick, if you want. It's been a long time since I had someone to talk about magick with other than Giles, and he's an older gentleman and lives in Cleveland now. It would really be nice to have a friend who's a witch."

Tara looked at the stunning redhead with bright green eyes shining and smiled. "I'd be your friend, if you want."

The redhead beamed in reply. "Maybe we could get coffee. Get to know each other. How about Friday?" Willow found her voice had gotten shaky for some reason.

"That sounds nice." Tara stepped over to the desk and grabbed a pen and paper. "Here's my number. Call me later this week." The blonde turned to Buffy. "Thanks again. Even if you don't find out anything it means so much to me that you were willing to try."

As Tara started out the door, Willow snapped out of her trance. "I'll walk you out."

Tara gave the redhead a shy smile and touched her arm. "I'll be fine Willow. The door is right there. I'll see you Friday."

Willow watched the blonde walk down the short hallway to the front door and realized she hadn't really looked below Tara's face until now. The rising blush in her cheeks confirmed that was probably a good thing as she took in the other woman's shapely figure. When Tara got to the outer door she stopped and smiled back at the redhead who could only grin and give her a small wave.

Willow was still standing in the hall with her hand up when Buffy and Xander filed out of the office.

Buffy took one look at her friend before busting out in laughter as she picked her up by the waist and spun her around. "Will, you have a date! I'm so proud of you!"

Xander couldn't stop himself from adding. "And what a hottie! Did you see those. . ."

"Stop it. Both of you. It's not a date. We are just meeting to talk about magick. She's a witch, I'm a witch, we're witches having coffee and talking." Willow slapped at Buffy's shoulders to get her to put her down. "Slayer squeezing can stop now."

"Really Willow. I think it's a date. What do you think Xander?" Buffy set the redhead down on her feet but didn't let go of her completely.

"I think we just watched our witchy friend ask another lovely witch out on a date, and said blonde witch agreed." Xander reached over and poked Willow in the ribs as he spoke.

"She probably isn't even into women. You know my gaydar is terrible. And that's Ok, I really would like to just have a witch friend." Willow tried to sound convincing as they headed for the stairs that led up to the second floor living area. But in her mind she couldn't stop the happy thought that maybe, just maybe, she had a coffee date with the most beautiful witch she had ever seen.


	4. Chapter 4-Morgue before Mochas

Chapter Four-Morgue before Mochas

Dr. Elise Jones smiled and shook her head as she followed a whistling Willow down the long hall leading to the morgue. When they arrived in the prep room she chuckled at the oblivious redhead as they both grabbed case clipboards.

"Are you laughing at me?" Willow finally noticed her friend's antics.

The brunette nodded. "What has gotten into you? I've never seen you like this. Not that I'm complaining, it's just I've never seen you so damn happy."

"Can't a girl just be filled with joy? It's Friday, not too busy and a beautiful day outside!" Willow twirled in a tight circle.

Elise was witnessing a new side to her younger friend and narrowed her eyes as she concentrated on the redhead. "Willow its pouring rain." Suddenly it struck her. Happy, whistling, twirling. "You have a date don't you!"

Willow stopped and looked down and found the clipboard in her hand very interesting. "A date? No, I don't have a date."

"Really Will? Cause you are acting very much like someone who is strangely excited about the day. Shame on you for not telling me, your good friend, that you have met someone." Elise stepped closer to the redhead. "I bet she's pretty."

"She's beautiful!" Willow blurted out before giving her co-worker a mock frown. "You tricked me. And it's not a date. Just a new friend I'm having coffee with at a prearranged time and place."

Both of the doctors headed into the morgue with Elise lightly teasing. "A prearranged time and place. You know that is the definition of a date, don't you? Well off to work. I expect full details; I've been married so long I have to live vicariously."

Willow hummed to herself more quietly as she gave her assistant the case number and headed to her station. She had picked a somewhat unusual case for the day. Duncan Green, a thirty-five year old manager for Lab Services Incorporated, appeared to have jumped from the eighth story balcony of his condo late at night leaving a wife and three children. No reason was given for him to have taken his life.

The autopsy assistant had rolled the body from the cooler and secured the cart to the station. Willow took a series of photographs as the assistant removed the clothing and began to clean off blood.

Just as she began to take her initial notes, James Pierce appeared at her elbow, peering at the information on her clipboard.

"Can I help you?" Willow was determined not to let anyone, especially James, ruin her good mood today.

"Yes, thank you. I need you to give me this case." Assertive arrogance oozed from the man.

"I've already started Dr. Pierce. Is there some reason you are trying to take a case from me, again?"

"Yes, actually. It is a sensitive issue. I will take full responsibility." He spoke with a blustering authority, but with a nervous undertone.

Willow sighed. She was not in the mood for a battle today, but she couldn't let this happen again. James was starting to bully her and she was past the days of letting that happen. She turned to face the taller man. "This is my case James. If you have a problem with that, take it to Dr. Banks."

"I'll do that Rosenberg." He barked and left in a huff.

Willow did her best to shake off the strange interaction with her co-worker and direct her full attention back to her work. Her assistant had finished undressing the man and found no personal items in his pockets. He had been wearing a t-shirt, sweatpants and boxers, typical for a man lounging around his home.

It appeared the man had landed on his back, as his face and chest showed no distinct injury. But as Willow started to examine up close, she noted a series of marks on the front of the neck, one on the right side and four on the left. The marks were red-purple and round to oval and to Willow's forensic mind, they immediately looked like fingertip bruises.

Now her mind was engaged and on full alert. She photographed the marks and moved on to examining the remainder of the body. As she lifted and peeled back the eyelids, she was troubled to find numerous tiny spots of red hemorrhage. 'Petechiae,' she thought to herself, 'often associated with asphyxia.'

With her gloved hands she lifted the left and then right wrist of the late Mr. Green and looked at his hands, fingers, and fingernails. One of the nails on the right hand was slightly torn, and a fragment of something was stuck beneath it.

Asking her assistant for a nail scraper and sterile cup, she carefully removed the material from under the nail, placed it in the cup and took it over to a microscope in the morgue to get a closer look.

"Dr. Jones! Could you take a look at something for me?" Willow called out to her friend working several stations down from her in the morgue.

"Sure, what you got there?" Elise asked as she peeled off a set of bloody gloves.

"I took this from under the fingernail of the supposed jumper. Its skin, and I don't think it's his." Willow started. "Also, come look at him. He's got florid conjunctival petechial hemorrhage and what look like fingertip bruises on his anterior neck."

Elise looked at the body as Willow described her findings. "Ok, I agree. He's got all of those things. Now what."

"Why would a jumper have those findings? He was supposedly up alone late at night and no one knew what he had done until he was found on his back in the grass the next morning." Willow was frowning at her displeasure that things weren't adding up.

"Sounds like more investigation is needed. Maybe someone tried to grab him to stop him and doesn't want to admit it. I'd hold off on a ruling for now and get one of the investigators to re-interview the witnesses." Elise offered as she headed back to her own case before calling out over her shoulder, "Or someone is trying to cover up a murder."

Willow moved on with the autopsy after taking more photos and securing the fingernail scrapings into an evidence locker. Several large abrasions were on the back. Internally the decedent had extensive injuries consistent with a fall, including a fractured spinal column. He also had hemorrhage in the muscles of his anterior neck directly under the area of the fingertip bruises, confirming significant pressure had been applied, enough to cut off blood flow to the head and cause the petechiae.

After finishing up in the morgue, Willow went to her office and made a fresh espresso and carried it to the adjoining wing of the building that housed the field investigations unit. The computerized case file had listed the investigator who had gone to Duncan Green's condo building that morning, taken photos of the scene and interviewed the witnesses, including Mrs. Green. The investigator, Nicholas Anderson, was a long term employee of the office and Willow had found he had a soft spot for good brew.

"Nick. I come bearing coffee gifts." She started with her best smile.

"Dr. Rosenberg. It's always a pleasure, but you didn't come over here just to bring me coffee. What can I do for you?" Nick smiled but looked slightly wary. The Medical Examiners usually just called if they needed something, and bringing coffee meant the request was probably an unusual one.

Willow knew she was asking a big favor. Re-interviewing the wife of a man who allegedly just jumped eight stories to his death would be difficult enough, but she needed him to dig a little deeper into the truth of the story. "I did the autopsy on Duncan Green. Most of his injuries are consistent with a fall, but there are some things that don't fit. He had petechiae and anterior neck bruising. I also found what looks like skin under his fingernail."

That got Nick's attention. "Really? Could he have scratched himself crawling over the rail or something?"

"I didn't see any abrasions except on his back, so I don't think so. I am going to have the sample compared to see if it is his DNA. But I need you to go back out and talk to the wife and any other neighbors who might have seen or heard anything."

Nick nodded. "I understand. I'll see what I can find out. Maybe take a uniformed officer out there with me."

"Whatever you think is best. I'm going to hold off on the ruling for now until I get some more info and the lab can test the skin sample." Willow tapped the desk near the cup she had brought. "Enjoy your coffee first. And thank you, I feel like this is important."

"Sure Doc. I'll head back out there and let you know what I find." Nick leaned back in his chair and took a sip. "Spoil me with some more of this coffee and I'll be putty in your hands."

Willow had returned to her office and been so engrossed in paperwork that it was several hours later before she realized she had not heard back from the investigator. Now it was nearly five o'clock and his shift would be over. She picked up the phone and called his direct line, but he didn't answer and it rolled over to the switchboard operator who informed her that Nick had been called out to another death scene and wasn't expected back for some time.

Willow pondered her options. The DNA analysis would take several days and Nick probably hadn't had the chance to type up his report on the additional interviews anyway. The ruling on the case was pending for now and she was legally allowed to take up to four weeks before completing the final death certificate, so waiting until Monday to talk to Nick wouldn't really hurt anything.

Besides, she had a 'meeting with a friend for coffee' to get ready for. That returned the smile to her face and the spring in her step took her quickly to the exit.

* * *

Shirts, pants, and skirts adorned the bed, the headboard and the surrounding floor. Tara had worked her way through her simple wardrobe three times and still couldn't find anything she thought was suitable for her coffee with Willow. Should she wear jeans or a skirt? All of her tops seemed suddenly out-of-date.

Why was she so worried about her appearance? This wasn't a date, was it? Willow wanted to talk to another witch about magick. No way was the stunning redhead single, even if it turned out she was interested in women. With that thought the blonde settled on a casual long sleeved top and black jeans before heading out the door. She would be happy to have a friend to talk to about magick, especially such a gorgeous woman.

By the time she found the upscale coffee shop in the South of Market area of the city Tara was sure Willow wouldn't be there. The train had been delayed and she went down several wrong blocks in the unfamiliar neighborhood. She scanned the tables and saw no sign of the redhead. Glancing at the menu board she decided it might be for the best if Willow had given up on her. A mocha and a sandwich were several days of her food budget. She sighed and turned to leave.

"Tara. Tara!"

The blonde turned toward the voice calling her name and found it was Willow practically skipping down a short hall from the direction of the restrooms. The redhead slid to a stop in front of her.

"Hi. Sorry I wasn't here when you came in." Willow was speaking so fast she was almost out of breath. "I might have gotten here a little early and had a mocha, or two, and needed to make a little side trip down the hall." Now the redhead was blushing. "I was worried that you would show up while I was, umm, busy, and look, you did. But you probably don't want to hear about that. Can I get you something?"

Tara couldn't help but smile at the babbling speech. "I should be apologizing Willow, I'm the one who was late."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I have a table over by the fireplace. You want to sit? I was going to get another mocha, can I get you one?" Willow was clearly buzzing.

"That sounds nice." Tara reached into her wallet. "Let me get you some money."

"No, no. My treat. I invited you. Sit. I'll be right back." Willow pointed to her table and smiled before heading to the counter.

As Tara waited she couldn't stop taking little glances over at the redhead. She was in a green fitted sweater that made her eyes sparkle and a long brown skirt over boots. Willow was undeniably sexy in an unassuming way that was even more appealing.

In only a few days Tara had found herself with four new acquaintances, more than she had made in the last year. Anya had given her a part-time job and Xander and Buffy were trying to help with her brother's situation, and then she had met Willow.

What an unusual group of friends. She definitely felt power from the redhead. Anya had a different feel to her aura while Xander seemed like a nice, normal guy. It was Buffy that had confused her the most. There was something magickal about her, but not in a witchy way. Tara wondered if it would be rude to ask Willow about her.

Suddenly there was a flurry of redhead in front of her. "I hope you like it. This place makes the best mochas in town in my humble opinion."

Tara took a sip. "It's delicious. Thank you again for inviting me."

Willow bit her lower lip for a moment before speaking. "I'll be honest. I've been looking forward to seeing you all week." When she saw the blonde's smile she continued. "Can I ask, how long have you been practicing?"

"Always. Since I was little. My Mom had a lot of power." Tara knew the redhead wanted to talk about magick, but maybe she could find out about the witch's life too. "How about you? I can tell you are powerful. Did your Mom teach you?"

Willow almost snorted her mocha. "My Mom? No. My Mom would run the other way if she saw a real witch, and that includes me. Well, when she wasn't trying to have me burned at the stake. I'm mostly self-taught, although I've had some guidance from a few mentors over the years. Since we left Sunnydale, I've been mostly on my own."

Tara didn't need to be empathic to sense the sadness in the last statement. "Well, you're not alone now." From some well of courage she didn't know she possessed, Tara reached over and gave Willow's hand a gentle squeeze. "So you all left Sunnydale together? That's quite a group, you, Anya, Xander, and Buffy."

"And Dawn, that's Buffy's little sister. She moved out of the firehouse two years ago to her own apartment." Willow answered comfortably.

"You all live at the firehouse, together?" Tara was a little surprised. She knew Buffy and Xander had an office there, but didn't realize they lived upstairs.

"Well we have sort of a unique history; we've been through a lot together. And we all have our own space." Willow looked at her with concern. "Is it too odd that we share the firehouse?"

"Not at all. I've heard things about Sunnydale, about the mystical convergence there." Tara didn't see the harm in asking. "Were you all involved with what happened?"

Willow knitted her brow for a moment. She had to make a decision on the spot. Tell Tara everything, try to deflect the question or outright fabricate. Since she was terrible at the latter two, and since Anya had hired her and Buffy and Xander were trying to help with her brother, she decided to come clean. Besides, trusting Tara felt completely right to her, deep inside.

"Yes, we were sort of responsible. Buffy is the Vampire Slayer, and we were fighting to keep a great Evil from escaping the Hellmouth, that's what we called the mystical convergence. It sort of ended up with Sunnydale imploding, but we did close that Hellmouth for good."

Tara found her lower lip seemed to be hanging open. "Buffy is one of the Slayers? I've heard about them."

Willow shook her head. "No, Buffy is The Slayer, the one girl in all the world, before there were dozens of them. We've been best friends since high school when she came to the Sunnydale Hellmouth." The redhead looked into her coffee cup for a moment. "She's why I worked so hard on my magick, to help in the fight against evil."

Tara could see there were depths to Willow's comment that she didn't fathom yet. But now was far too soon to push down that path. "But now you are a doctor, right? Buffy said you are a doctor."

"Yes, I went to medical school at UC San Francisco." Instead of looking more comfortable with the safe topic of jobs, the redhead started to bite her lower lip. "I'm a forensic pathologist, my office is in Oakland but we cover all of North and Central California."

"Wow." Tara wasn't sure what to say. She had never met anyone who did that kind of work. Her only exposure was seeing autopsies on the occasional TV show, and that probably wasn't anything like the real thing.

Now Willow was looking at her with real trepidation. "I hope that doesn't creep you out. Some people think what I do is really gross or they have some perverse fascination and want to hear my weirdest stories."

Tara could understand the redhead's concern now and wanted to put her at ease. "How did you get interested?"

Willow's face relaxed as she answered. "I became captivated by pathology in medical school. Learning how the human body really works, how to diagnose when things go wrong, that really appealed to the scientific side of me."

The redhead paused for a moment before continuing. "Forensics was a chance to combine my inner science geek with the Scooby in me." She looked up at Tara's confused expression before explaining, "That's what we call ourselves, the Scoobies. Solving supernatural mysteries, although we never had a cool van. Well, now I get to solve the ultimate mystery, how we die. And I keep an eye out for any demon related deaths that may need to be dealt with in non-traditional ways. I hope that doesn't seem too strange."

Tara smiled softly and reached over and placed her hand over Willow's. "It sounds like you have spent a long time trying to help people. How could that be strange?"

The smile she received in return from the redhead warmed her more than the mocha. The truth was she found herself completely smitten not only by Willow's beautiful eyes, but by her thoughtful intelligence. The two women settled into a comfortable discussion about magick and Wicca and were surprised when hours had flown by and the shop was ready to close.

As they walked out and down the street to the train station, Willow's anxiety crept back in. She wanted desperately to see Tara again soon, to ask her out on a real date, but she hadn't figured out how to ask whether the blond was seeing anyone, female or male. Even if she was single, would she be interested in a date with her?

Tara was feeling her own panic. She had just experienced several hours of sheer happiness in Willow's company. She had learned much about her new friend, but that did not include any discussion of a significant other.

As they arrived at the entrance to the underground station both women turned to each other and started to speak simultaneously. They laughed as they realized they were both trying to ask the same thing.

"Let me, or I'll get too nervous and nothing will come out right." Willow took a deep breath. "I would like to see you again. If you want to get together and talk about magick, or practice some spells, that would be nice."

Tara's smile faltered and she felt her stomach sink a little. Willow really did just want to be magick friends. Although disappointed, she couldn't deny that having the redhead in her life in any capacity would be nice. But before she could respond, Tara felt her hand being taken between both of Willow's smaller ones.

"But what I really want is to take you out on a date." The redhead looked up at her with wide vulnerable eyes and a shy smile. "We didn't really talk about that part of our lives, but I'm single, and I think you are amazingly smart and beautiful, and please stop me if I am reading this all wrong and you are horrified right now and I've just ruined any chance for us to be friends."

It took Tara a moment to process everything Willow had said, but when she did, she leaned down and spoke quietly into the redhead's ear. "I would love to go on a date with you Willow." Before moving away, she brushed her lips against the cheek in front of her and smiled as she saw the other woman shiver. "I have to go. Tomorrow is my first day working at The Waxing Moon and I should get some sleep tonight."

Tara extracted her hand from between Willow's and slowly moved toward the escalator while watching the stunned smile on the redhead's face never change. "You'll call me?"

The question seemed to break Willow out of her trance and she nodded. "I'll call you!"

As she got to the top of the escalator, Tara looked back one more time before descending. "And Willow, I think you are amazingly smart and beautiful too!"


	5. Chapter 5-Spells and Secrets

Chapter Five-Spells and Secrets

It was Sunday afternoon and Tara had spent the weekend under Anya's careful tutelage learning the inventory and procedures of the Waxing Moon. She had also been indoctrinated into what Anya called 'the art of the sale,' which seemed to consist mostly of pushing additional product purchases. As far as Tara was concerned it was a great job. The hours were reasonable and the work wasn't hard. She got the chance to talk to people about magick and Anya was Ok, if slightly odd.

"So Tara, I think this weekend went really well. You are very good with customers, patient and kind. We'll just work on your closing techniques over time and how to move sale products. I'll make you a set of keys so you can open the store on your own next weekend. "

The phone rang and the ex-demon answered. "Waxing Moon. Oh hi Buffy. Yes Tara is here. She did very well this weekend. Ok, I'll ask her." Anya put her hand over the phone. "Buffy wants to know if you can stop by the firehouse on the way home. She has some news about your brother."

"Of course!" Tara was excited to think Buffy might have found something helpful. She was also hoping to get to see Willow who she had been dreaming about since Friday night. She had never felt such an immediate connection with someone and was almost embarrassed at how aroused thoughts of the redhead made her.

"I'll bring her home with me. See you soon Buffy." With that Anya hung up the phone and started counting the money in the cash register for the third time. There were no more customers in the store and it was only a half hour until closing.

"Anything I should do?" Tara tried to ask without disturbing Anya's count.

"No, but it is nice you asked." Anya stopped and gave her a startlingly strong look. "You are a very nice person aren't you? I hope you are, because Willow really likes you and that girl has had more than her share of heartache. She said you agreed to go on a date with her, is that right?"

Tara thought Anya's defense of her friend was admirable. "I know you guys are close, because of your past. But you should know I really like Willow too, I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"Yes. Well Willow could take care of herself if she wanted to; after all she is the most powerful witch in the world." Anya stated casually as she continued setting aside the bills she had counted into stacks. "I mean, vampire soul restoration, resurrection, activation of all the potentials. If she hadn't had her scary run in with the dark magicks, who knows how far she could have gone." The ex-demon was gazing off into space now, bills held loosely in her hands.

"W-What? W-Willow did those things? Who did she resurrect? She was responsible for all the Slayers? She used dark m-m-magicks?" Tara was backing up subconsciously as she spoke. She had no idea the unassuming redhead had been so deeply involved in such powerful spells. Performing just one of what Anya had described would make her a sorceress of immense ability.

When Tara had backed halfway across the room she bumped into a table display, spilling several items on the floor with a clatter, which seemed to bring Anya out of her trance. "Hmmm? Oh, Willow hasn't told you about all that yet. I'm sure she will explain everything."

Anya finally noticed the horrified expression on Tara's face. "But don't worry. Willow hasn't done anything like that in years, not since we left Sunnydale. I think her use of dark magick in particular was influenced by the Hellmouth. I know it certainly affected me."

Tara was trying to process everything her new boss had just told her, but it was too much. She bent down to collect the spilled items and busied herself with rearranging them on the display table. "Why would the Hellmouth have influenced you?"

"Let's lock up and head to the firehouse and I'll tell you all about my vengeance days. You should appreciate my stories, with the not liking men and all. I've been told to start with something other than the tales that involve disembowelment, but they are some of my best."

Tara was too stunned to even argue with Anya about the fact that she liked most men just fine, she just didn't want to be in a relationship with one. She tried to listen as Anya described her thousand years as a vengeance demon, but she kept thinking about what she had just learned about Willow. She had never known a witch who used dark magick, but her mother had warned her about the danger in following that path.

Tara hadn't done a full aura scan on Willow; that was personal and intrusive. If she had she thought she could have seen the residual effects from using powerful dark magicks, even in the past. Resurrection was the stuff of legend, partly because of the dark forces required. Willow had communed with the gods of darkness, chiefly Osiris, in order to bring someone back to life, and the god of death and the underworld was not one to invoke without repercussion.

Xander was the first to see the two women enter the firehouse together. Anya was chatting away and appeared oblivious to Tara's pale, sweaty complexion. In fact Xander thought the blonde witch might be about to pass out as he hurried over and pulled a folding chair out from one of the tables set for the neighborhood cookout which was just finishing up.

"Tara, take a seat. Anya honey, Tara looks a little pale, what have you ladies been talking about?"

"Oh just the good ole days of my vengeance. I got the chance to tell Tara some of my stories." The ex-demon took in her new employee's appearance and agreed she wasn't looking her best. "That's probably enough for right now; we'll have plenty of time for stories in the future if you start to share orgasms with Willow. I know she could certainly use some, she's wound really tight, but then she always has been."

Xander's waving and coughing did nothing to stop Anya's comments so he decided more direct intervention was needed. "Tara. Can I get you something to eat? Or drink? As you can see, it is our cookout time."

"Cookout?"

"Yeah. Willow puts on a meal for anyone who needs it in the neighborhood on Sundays. Mostly for the families with kids, but anyone is welcome. We all help out."

Willow Rosenberg, former dark sorceress and proprietor of a Sunday soup kitchen? The inconsistencies were too much to assimilate. Tara was grateful to Xander for his offer of something to drink, but didn't think she could eat right now. "Thank you, some water or tea would be nice."

"An, let's go get drinks." Xander pulled his wife by the arm towards the kitchen leaving Tara to look around at what was happening. The blonde realized the space was filled with the comforting smells of home cooking and several families were just finishing up meals at the long tables with folding chairs.

As she watched, Willow appeared from the kitchen area wearing an apron printed with kittens playing with yarn and with her arms full of leftover containers. She stopped at an empty table and started putting the containers into backpacks. After putting the food in she added a few apples and other snacks to each. When she finished packing, she walked around the room and gave the backpacks to someone in each family group. At the last group she bent down to place the backpack on the lap of a young girl sitting in a wheelchair. The girl reached out and gave the redhead a hug that made Willow smile and they chatted for a minute before the family headed for the door.

When Willow stood up, Xander was next to her holding a cup of tea. He pointed and Willow followed his gesture and saw Tara sitting in the corner. She looked at Xander aghast and tried to escape back into the kitchen, but he had a firm grip on her arm and steered both of them back toward the blonde where he set down the tea.

"Sorry that took a couple minutes Tara, here's your tea." Xander grabbed a chair and gently pushed Willow into it across the table from Tara. "Look who I found. Why don't you two take a few minutes to talk while Anya and I clean up the kitchen before the Scooby meeting."

Willow looked up and frowned at Xander. "You are volunteering to clean? With Anya? What happened?"

Xander was already walking away as he spoke. "Anya may have been talking to Tara about some stuff, you know, her vengeance days, your witchy past, orgasms, you know the usual." Now he was on the run. "Sorry!"

When Willow turned back towards Tara her face was as red as her hair. "Oh No. I was horrified enough that you were here and would see me all sweaty and covered with flour. Now I find out Anya has been saying Goddess knows what to you. Don't get me wrong, I am really glad to see you, but please feel free to run away at any time from all this craziness."

Tara took a sip of her tea as she thought about how to respond. Anya's deluge of information had been a lot to take in, and she was honestly concerned about what the former vengeance demon had said about Willow's use of dark magick. But looking at the redhead in front of her all she could see was a sweet embarrassed woman who spent her Sundays helping her neighbors. There was a little flour dusting her hair and her apron had what looked like gravy on it.

"I'm not running away Willow. What you are doing here is really special and there are so many people that need this kind of help." The blonde reached over and shook a little flour from the ends of the redhead's hair. "Besides, this is really cute. Dr. Rosenberg all domestic." Now Tara was blushing a little herself. "Maybe we could talk later about some of the other things Anya said, if that's ok?"

"Of course. I'm sure she just blurted stuff out and didn't explain anything. And I'm so sorry about any discussion of sex, she's done that forever and just never seems to learn how inappropriate that is to normal people." Willow's blush got even deeper as she spoke.

Before they could continue Buffy arrived. "Good, you're here Tara. Let's head upstairs for the Scooby meeting and I'll tell you what we found out."

Willow waved her hand down her body and tried to give Buffy her best glare. "I'm going to take a minute to dump the apron and freshen up first since my best friend in the world couldn't warn me that she had invited someone over who I might want to know was coming so that I didn't look like this when she got here."

"Oops. My bad Will. I didn't think about that. I'll take Tara upstairs and we'll see you in a minute."

Tara couldn't help but smile at the interaction between the friends. She had never had anyone in her life like these people had each other. She was led to the second story living space where more leftovers were set out and Buffy immediately grabbed a plate and filled it to the brim. "I'm starving. You hungry? Willow makes really good chicken and dumplings. Please have some."

"It does smell amazing." Tara's stomach growled deciding for her and she helped herself as they all sat down.

Willow came in a couple minutes later in a clean shirt and towelling her still damp hair. She sat down next to the blonde and introduced Tara to Dawn before Buffy started the meeting.

"First, I asked Tara to join us tonight so I could let her and everyone know she was right about her brother. I called in a favor with a private investigator that does a lot of work in Sacramento. He told me one of his regular snitches says Donnie was set up by some big players. No one seems to know why, but it would sure help if he had a lawyer that gave a damn as opposed to his current public defender. I tried to talk to that guy and he could have cared less."

"Wow. That's terrible. What can we do?" Dawn asked. She had developed a keen sense about people as an investigative reporter and she could tell Tara was a kind person just from meeting her. She immediately wanted to help.

"Xander and I are going to check out some names the snitch gave us this week." The Slayer turned to Tara. "It would be really helpful if Donnie could get a private attorney, is there any way that is possible?"

Tara shook her head. It was embarrassing to admit, but she just couldn't afford the retainer fee an attorney would demand up front.

Willow could see the problem from Tara's reaction. "Maybe we could ask around, find someone to help out pro bono. We could ask Angel if he knows any good, non-evil lawyers here or in Sacramento?"

"Good thought Will. I'll call him later. Anybody have anything else?" Buffy looked around the group. "Quiet week huh? Well that's good. Ok, I've got extra Annabelle Flint babysitting duty tonight, so I'll see you guys later. That poor girl's parents are never home, it's no wonder she acts out so much."

Willow hadn't expected to see Tara today, but now that the blonde witch was here, Willow wanted to spend some time with her. "Tara, if you don't have to get home right away, maybe I could show you around. I have an office downstairs where I keep my magick materials, texts and supplies. If you're interested."

"I'd love to." Tara thought maybe she would get the chance to ask about what Anya had told her as well.

Willow gave the blonde a quick tour of the firehouse which concluded in her small office space. Tara immediately headed for the bookshelves lining the walls, fascinated by the plethora of magickal texts. "You have an impressive collection. I haven't even heard of some of these."

"Thanks, I've been collecting for years." The redhead lifted the lid on a trunk in the corner and took out some candles and sand. "I was thinking earlier about a spell I want to try. I would love your help."

Tara's thoughts flew back to her conversation with Anya about Willow and dark magicks. "I don't know if I should. W-we really haven't talked about our style of casting. I wouldn't want to interfere."

Willow was undeniably disappointed. She had dreamt about doing a spell with Tara and had thought of something simple she wanted to try to help the kids in the neighborhood. But casting could seem rather intimate in certain spells. "It's about the backpacks, the ones I give to the kids? I found out some of the local older teen thugs are stealing them. I thought I'd try to put a protection spell on them, and maybe a glamour to make them seem less noticeable."

Willow prepped the circle and got ready to light the candles. "If you are uncomfortable, I guess I could do this another time."

Tara felt horrible. She had become suspicious when Willow had shown nothing but kindness and generosity. Of course she was doing a light magick based spell. Willow herself had told her she had done nothing but protection and defensive spells in a long time and she should have trusted her. Willow's past was just that, and any explanation could certainly wait until Willow brought it up. "No, I'd love to help. What can I do?"

That brought the smile back to the redhead's face and she took Tara's hand and helped her to sit in the circle. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll do the spell; if you want you can help stabilize the power, no pressure. I'd love to know what you think, if you could improve on it for the future."

As she lit the candles and tried to relax into a meditative state, Willow knew what she had seen. Just for one second there had been a flash of fear on the blonde witch's face when she had asked to cast together. It was as if Tara had seen something frightening about her, about her magick.

Willow's mind took her back to the last time she had used dark magick in a spell, back in Sunnydale, after Buffy had been shot. But Tara couldn't know about that, even with her aura reading ability. Not even Buffy and Xander knew about that darkest spell, the one she had tried to put out of her mind for over a decade.

Her shoulders shuddered for a moment before she refocused on the task at hand. Calling for the power to perform her light based spell came easily, more readily than usual. Willow wondered if that was due to the presence of the blonde witch. She felt her magick mix comfortably with Tara's, like greeting a long lost friend. While chanting she imbued the backpack with protection and a small flash passed through her hand and into the small pack.

Blowing out the candles and opening the circle Tara moved to sit on the loveseat smiling. "That was beautiful Willow, and for a good cause. You'll have to let me know how it works." Tara felt warm inside. Her brief casting with Willow had shown their magick had a deep compatibility, more than she had ever found except with her mother.

"I will." Willow finished cleaning up as Tara perused the bookshelves again. "So, I made us reservations at Patrazios for Friday night, if that is ok."

Tara had pulled an ancient history of Wicca book off the shelf to look at when Willow spoke. "Patrazios! Isn't that place impossible to get reservations? And expensive?"

"Well, I have a good friend who is a sous chef there." Willow sat down on the loveseat and motioned for Tara to join her. "Don't worry about the expense, I want to take you someplace nice for our date, unless that would make you totally uncomfortable, in which case we can get a slice of pizza on the waterfront if you want." While she spoke Willow had worked her hand under Tara's and interlaced their fingers.

"Patrazios sounds really nice." Tara liked the feel of Willow's soft hand holding hers as they relaxed on the loveseat. "I'll try to look my best."

Willow waved her free hand in the air. "Pppfff. You've been working all day today and still look beautiful. Just be your always lovely self."

Tara felt a wellspring of emotion building up inside her and knew what she wanted to do. She turned her body slightly to face Willow and reached up her free hand to touch the lightly freckled cheek. As her fingertips made contact, a current ran through both women and Willow took in a breath sharply and turned to bring their faces close together.

"Tara."

Tara leaned forward, inching slowly, her hand continuing to caress Willow's face, until their lips were so close she could feel their breath mixing. Then she could wait no longer to feel Willow's lips against her own and pressed forward, and the tingly feeling of electricity moved from where her fingertips touched Willow's cheek to their joined lips and both women moaned at the contact.

Their lips fit, molded together in softness, like clay worked by an artist into perfect form. Mouths moved together feeling the utter rightness without need or want of going further for now. Just holding hands and kissing and feeling the connection grow between them.

They broke apart several times and found their lips kept returning to more kisses before relenting and sitting back in the love seat side by side with Tara resting her head on Willow's shoulder. For several minutes they both just soaked in the emotion of the moment, neither wanting to break the link they had established.

Finally Tara shifted slightly so that she could look into Willow's eyes. "I hate to say it, but I should go before it gets too late."

The redhead sighed deeply, but nodded and stood up, taking Tara up by the hands at the same time. "I don't like it at all, but you're probably right." Willow looked down and saw the book Tara had pulled off the shelf. "Do you want to borrow this to read? You are more than welcome to it."

"Are you sure? It looks really interesting, but I didn't want to presume."

"Please. You are more than welcome to borrow anything I have in here, anytime. Besides, that just gives me another reason to see you." Willow's voice was low and flirty.

"You don't need to make up excuses; I want to see you more." Tara responded in kind as she tucked the volume into her bag. "Walk me out so I can kiss you one more time at the door."

"Yes ma'am." Willow grinned as she took Tara's hand to lead her out of the firehouse.

One more kiss turned into several, but eventually Willow let Tara go with another promised call to confirm their date on Friday and watched her walk down the block until she turned the corner out of sight.


	6. Chapter 6-A Vampire and Verisimilitude

Chapter Six-A Vampire and Verisimilitude

Tara was floating in the deliriously happy memories of her kisses with Willow as she sat on the train headed back to her apartment in Berkeley. She had been single for several years, since a bad breakup with the woman she had dated throughout most of college and for two years after graduation, her only serious relationship. She had thought the feelings Katie and she had for each other at the outset would grow and develop, but Katie had changed over time. She became very demanding and focused on making money and thought Tara was wasting her time working for the nonprofit farm workers organization. Eventually Katie had announced she could no longer stay with someone with no financial stability in her future and left.

That had given Tara the opportunity and excuse to spend even more time working and volunteering while avoiding the issue of dating. She was just too inherently shy to go out and meet people and most of her friends were in couples.

Then Willow had literally stepped into her life and asked her out not once but twice. She couldn't imagine where she had found the courage to kiss the beautiful redhead tonight. Maybe the residual light magick in the room had affected both of the witches, in the best possible way. There was no question she was falling for Willow and it seemed that the feelings might be reciprocated.

Tara exited the station and started the four block walk to her apartment feeling giddy at the prospect of Willow being attracted to her. She found everything about Willow sexy, especially her sparkling green eyes. But she had rarely felt attractive to someone else, and never in the way that Willow made her feel.

She was halfway home when she heard a sound behind her and thought she should stop skipping as it might make her look a little silly. A smile was still on her face but she settled into a stride.

When noises came from a line of bushes next to an office building on her left, the smile faded and her pace quickened. A left turn at the corner and she could see the driveway that led to her over the garage apartment a block away. When the rustling in the vegetation became louder, she quickly scanned her spell memories for something that could help.

Willow's face popped into her mind and she thought about the spell on the backpacks to protect them and make them less noticeable. Would a similar glamour work on her? She quickly altered and incanted the phrases and finished just as a man emerged from behind the line of bushes. He was dressed darkly and clearly looking for her and seemed confused at her sudden disappearance. She broke into a run for the last block and raced up the stairs to her front door.

She fished her key ring from the bottom of her bag and shakily got the door key into the lock when a sudden thump sounded above her. Was that something on her roof? Stepping in she turned to shut the door and found the man who had followed her had just jumped down onto the landing and was headed for the door.

She slammed the door shut just as he reached the opening and her last vision had been of his face, disfigured. Although she had never seen one up close, the bright moonlight had glinted on the long fangs of the stalking vampire.

Knowing the vampire couldn't get in without an invitation and certainly not past the protection spells she had placed on her home was comforting in a way, but not enough to overcome the terror running through her veins at the thought of a vampire tracking her in her own neighborhood.

She had never heard of vampire attacks in the quiet residential area of Berkeley, but anything was possible. She could call Willow and ask her about it tomorrow. For now she would remember to be more aware of her surroundings and take a cab if it was late at night to avoid another random encounter. She spent several minutes checking the windows and boosting her protection spells to full power before falling into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Monday mornings were always busy with cases that the Medical Examiners on call for the weekend didn't have time to complete, and Dr. Rosenberg found herself finishing her second autopsy before 10:00 am on this Monday. By the time she was finished dictating her reports it was almost lunchtime. While some Sunday leftovers were heating in the microwave, she checked her email for the first time that day. Most of the messages were regarding court appearances and depositions on autopsies she had performed, asking for her schedule.

After responding to all of the clerks and attorneys, she realized she didn't have an email or phone message from Nick Anderson about the Duncan Green case from Friday. She called him and once again the phone rang to his voicemail. She decided to head over to his office and see if she could track him down.

Willow was surprised when she walked into the large open room with multiple divided modular spaces that housed the investigators to find Nick sitting at his desk. "Nick? I just called you. I wanted to see what you found out about Duncan Green on Friday."

"Hi Dr. Rosenberg." Nick remained focused on his computer screen. "I must have been on the phone."

Willow waited for a minute. "Soooo, what did you find out? About Mr. Green?"

Now she could tell that Nick was nervous. He started fiddling with some papers in front of him, still not making eye contact. "I didn't get a chance to go back out to his condo, sorry. I got called away to another death scene and never made it."

Willow didn't know what to say, but she was sure her expression showed the shock she was feeling. Nick was one of the best investigators in the office and it was completely out of character for him to ignore a direct assignment from one of the doctors. She also felt a little wounded. She had asked him personally and he had seemed to agree that the investigation was important.

"Nick, why didn't you get someone else to cover? Or send someone else back to the condo if you had to. I don't know what to say, you just blew me off?"

That at least got him to look at her and he looked dutifully embarrassed. "I'm sorry Doc."

Now Willow realized Nick was glancing around her, almost furtively, to the private back office of the Lead Investigator who was technically his direct supervisor. Christina Grubber was a woman Willow loathed. She took the title of 'Lead' to equal 'supervisor who does no real work' and seemed to spend most her day complaining about the office and fixing her makeup.

When Nick looked back at her he whispered, "I was ordered to another scene and told to drop the follow-up on Duncan Green." Following another peek at the back office he leaned closer to Willow before speaking. "I feel bad about this, but I can't lose this job, I have to follow orders."

"Mine don't count? I know I asked politely, but it was still a request from a Medical Examiner, Nick. Do I need to go talk to Grubber?" Willow countered.

Nick was still looking behind Willow as she spoke, but suddenly turned back toward his computer. "It wasn't just Grubber, Dr. Rosenberg. Take a look for yourself."

Willow turned and was about to storm over to Grubber's office and give the woman a piece of her mind when she saw that the Lead Investigator was not alone in her office. Someone was sitting in one of her guest chairs, someone with a balding head with residual brown hair she would recognize anywhere, James Pierce.

This was problematic. James had tried to take the Duncan Green case from her and now he had interfered in the investigation. But that had nothing to do with Nick and she didn't want him to feel bad for protecting his job. "I think I understand what happened. Thanks for the info, I 'll keep you out of it Ok?"

Nick half turned to her with a look of relief. "Thank you. You are a good Medical Examiner and a good person. Take some friendly advice and watch out for those two."

Willow hadn't been back in her office for two minutes before Elise popped her head in the door. "Boss is looking for you. He wants to see you in his office. Everything alright?"

"I honestly don't know. Let me go see what Dr. Banks wants." Willow wondered if this day could get any stranger.

When she arrived at the office of the Chief Medical Examiner, she found her boss with his chair turned toward the window looking out at the traffic speeding by on the freeway. "You wanted to see me Dr. Banks?"

He turned towards her, but the expression on the older man's face remained somewhat glazed. "Willow. I need to talk to you about one of your cases, a Duncan Green?"

Willow immediately stiffened. What the heck was going on? "What would you like to know?"

"I got a call today from an attorney with PAI about a large employee life insurance policy on Mr. Green."

"Oh, so the company doesn't want to pay?" Willow retorted almost smugly.

Dr. Banks ran his hand through his dark hair. "No, strangely, it is the opposite. They are anxious to pay Mrs. Green the money, and they have offered to buy the condo the Greens were living in so that Mrs. Green can take the children back to her family in Oregon right away. The problem is they want a final death certificate in order to process the paperwork and you have the case as pending. They demanded the death certificate be signed today for everything to go through."

Now Willow was completely baffled. "Wait, they want me to finalize the cause and manner and will pay no matter what it says? Even if I certify the case as a suicide?"

"Yes. In fact the attorney indicated the family understood that Mr. Green took his own life by jumping from the balcony. Is there a problem?" Now Dr. Banks sounded confused.

"I was going to have some follow up investigation done. The autopsy had some inconsistent findings that concerned me." Willow answered honestly.

Dr. Banks sighed. "Dr. Rosenberg, I don't know exactly what is going on, but I'm getting unexpected pressure on this case. Not just from the company, but from. . . others. And the wife called and confirmed that she wanted the death certificate ASAP even if it was a suicide."

The Chief stood up and came out from behind his desk. "Willow, I like you. You are smart and energetic and have made an excellent start at being a top notch forensic pathologist. I don't want to order you to do this, but if your autopsy showed injuries consistent with a multi-story jump, please certify the case and let this family get some closure and financial security. We all get cases with unexplainable minor discrepancies on occasion and we have to learn to let those go."

Willow had never found herself in this dilemma before. Dr. Banks was her boss, he had hired her and she looked up to him. He had never pressured her regarding a case before in any way and he had provided her with insightful counsel on difficult cases when she needed it. She needed a straight answer from him. "You think I should sign the death certificate."

The older man looked her in the eye. "I do."

"Then I will do it today." Willow turned to leave the office as Dr. Banks went back to his chair. She was in the doorway when she thought about something he had told her. "Boss, you said the lawyer that called you was from PAI?"

Dr. Banks nodded.

"Our records indicate Duncan Green worked for Lab Services Incorporated. Was that an error?"

"No, Lab Services got bought out by PAI last year I think. They are a subsidiary now." The Chief had already turned his attention to something on his desk.

Willow nodded and left, heading back to her office with a troubled heart. She thought about telling Elise her concerns, but somehow didn't want to drag her friend into the mess. It was best to just get on her computer and do what she told her boss she would do, apply her electronic signature to the death certificate.

As she keyed in the codes to finalize the cause and manner, she couldn't figure out why she was bothered that the lawyer had called from PAI. But then again, there were so many aspects to this whole case that disturbed her. The bottom line was if Mrs. Green needed this for her family, would she really stand in the way over a few inconsistencies in the autopsy?

No. She hit the enter key and the death certificate for Duncan Green became just one of many she would complete that day.

* * *

Tara waited until Monday evening to call Willow unsure if she was even going to bring up the vampire. In the light of day it seemed almost surreal, as if she wasn't sure that she had really seen the brow ridges and fangs.

"Hello?"

Tara found herself smiling even at Willow's simple greeting. "Hi Sweetie. You busy?"

"Tara. I'm so glad to hear your voice. I had a strange and crappy day and you just made it exponentially better."

Tara could hear the hint of a pout and imagined the cuteness of Willow's lower lip sticking out ever so slightly as she spoke. "I'm sorry to hear that. Want to tell me about it?"

"Just weird and annoying stuff at work. I really like my profession and am lucky to have this job, but it can be hard too. One of my co-workers is a complete ass and today my boss, who has never given me a hard time, was strangely insistent that I do something I was a little uncomfortable with regarding a case." Willow sighed deeply. "But it's nothing I can't handle. Anyway I'd much rather hear your voice and think about more pleasant things, like kissing you again. When do I get to do that?"

Wow, that voice was almost enough to have her headed for the door to catch the train to the city. "I bet you get all the girls to fall at your feet when you talk to them like that don't you." Tara laughed low as she spoke.

"Hmm. I think it might be the other way around, cause you keep using that sexy voice with me and I promise I'll be at your feet or anywhere else you want me. And that probably was too much information, so I'll just answer your question and say I've had limited girls/guys in my past and none of them really did any falling." Willow added sadly.

Tara was a little surprised about the guys comment but decided to let it go for now and change the subject. "Well, their loss. Hey, can I ask you a Scooby-type question?"

Tara heard Willow shuffle like she was sitting up. "Of course. Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure. Have you ever heard of vampire attacks in Berkeley?" Tara was glad Willow couldn't see her chewing her lip as she asked.

"Tara, did you get attacked?" Willow sounded panicked.

"No, but I think a vampire followed me home from the train station last night. I used your spell to make me less noticeable and got in the door but he was there on my landing, with the brow ridges and fangs, staring right at me." Tara shuddered at the memory.

"Oh Baby, why didn't you call me? Buffy and I could have come over and patrolled for him, found him and given him a nice staking. Are you ok?" If anything, Willow's level of panic had increased.

"I'm fine. He couldn't get in and I have protection spells on my apartment. I was just surprised; I didn't know there were vampires here. Mrs. Darby didn't warn me when she rented me this apartment." Tara didn't want to upset Willow and tried to sound joking.

"I think there are vampires everywhere. They just usually seem to concentrate in big cities and near the Hellmouths. Are you sure you are Ok? Buffy and I will come over tomorrow night and get rid of the nasty vamp. I can't have you in danger from some random undead creature." Willow sounded all business now.

"I'm really fine Will." The redhead's concern warmed her like a blanket. "I won't be here tomorrow night anyway. I'm going out of town with my boss and a co-worker to do some scouting at the factory farms for a couple of days this week. We are going to talk to some of the workers in the pacification program."

"That sounds like it could be dangerous. Is that necessary? I've heard the companies keep a tight rein on the workers." A different concern drifted into Willow's voice now.

"It's what I do. My group is concerned about what is going on now, and the only people that can tell us what's really happening are the workers themselves. We've been hearing strange stories and need to check it out. I've done this sort of thing before. We know how to skirt the laws without breaking them." Tara needed to explain but didn't want Willow to worry too much. "Besides, I have a date Friday night with an incredibly sexy woman that I can't miss."

The initial response over the phone was a whimper, followed by a breathless, "Tara."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, feeling their connection even while not physically together. Finally it was Willow that spoke. "I'm so glad you called and let me know you would be gone. Buffy and Xander are going to talk to that snitch from Sacramento this week, and I'm going to make a call to a lawyer about helping your brother pro bono. Maybe I will have good news for you on Friday."

Tara felt tears come to her eyes. "That is so nice, of all of you."

"It's fine. The lawyer is sort of a Scooby connection and I should probably see if he can even help first. If he can, then you and I can go meet him." Willow shifted back to a soft voice. "Will you be able to call me while you are gone?"

Tara knew that voice could break her heart. "I wish I could say yes, but the answer is probably not. We have to be careful about using our phones."

A deep sigh was the response this time. "You know I'll be forced to worry about you."

"Don't worry Willow, I'll be fine." Tara tried to inject some cheer into her voice. "I hope your week improves. But not so much that Friday is a letdown."

"Oh, that could never happen. Be careful, please?" Willow begged.

"I promise. Goodnight Willow."

Both women were trying to fill their hearts with each other to last the rest of the week.

"Goodnight Tara."


	7. Chapter 7-Demon Drugs

Chapter Seven-Demon Drugs

James Pierce was annoyed. He had been forced to use a day of vacation time in order to meet with the Chairman and Founder of Pharm Ag Industries on a Thursday and had been told to report to the pharmaceutical manufacturing plant for the company located in an industrial area of Richmond, a long drive from his home. Usually he communicated with one of the Chairman's assistants over the phone when they needed his assistance. He liked to think of the work he was doing for PAI as 'consultation' that required his high level of expertise.

He had been approached about being placed on the payroll of PAI six months ago. When he indicated an interest, the Chairman himself had taken him to dinner at one of the finest restaurants in the city and had told him he was to play a vital role in the future of the company. In confidence, the Chairman had revealed his plans to run for statewide office, possibly Governor, placing him in a position to offer favors to those demonstrating loyalty. The Chairman hadn't needed to remind him that the position of Chief Medical Examiner was appointed by the Governor's office.

Once the contract was signed, a monthly retainer fee was deposited into his account, regardless of the hours of service provided. So far, the 'consultation' services James had performed had been minimal. He had written two opinion letters about the safety of various drugs the company produced and had been asked to intercede and conduct two autopsies at work.

The first one, Jennifer Clausen, had not been a problem. He frowned as he thought about the second one, Duncan Green. He had been late that morning and Willow Rosenberg had started the case before he got there and wouldn't hand it over to him when he had asked.

The redhead annoyed him in untold ways. She was young, smart and pretty. She hadn't shown the slightest interest in him and then made no secret of her unnatural sexual proclivities for women. The city was filled with ungodly degenerates like her, but it was reprehensible that she was allowed to hold such an important position. He would never view someone like her as an equal. In fact, when he became the Chief, she would be in the first round of employees shown the door.

Images of Willow weeping on her knees while begging him for her job entertained him until he arrived at the gate to the plant. He didn't understand why he needed to drive to this wasteland when PAI had a nice corporate office in the city, but the Chairman had made his demand clear.

After clearing security he was ushered into a waiting area and offered a latte. At least they were minimally civilized here.

"Dr. Pierce?" When James nodded, the young woman who had addressed him gestured for him to follow. They walked down a corridor and arrived at an elevator. "I'm Amy Madison. I've been asked to provide you with a tour of our facility. The Chairman will be meeting with you later for a discussion I'm told."

The elevator door opened and she stepped in after him. "I must remind you that everything you will see here today is strictly confidential, per the contract you signed."

James was indignant. Amy was a nice looking brunette in a trim suit, but he didn't need to waste his day with this overblown stewardess. "I'm here for a tour? I told the Chairman's assistant I am very busy at work and I've been ordered here for a tour of the pharmaceutical plant?"

Amy smiled thinly at his arrogance. She suspected in an hour he would be demonstrating a much different attitude. "This tour will be rather unique. Only select individuals are allowed access to what you will see today." She turned and opened a hidden panel in the elevator before pressing the button labeled B4 as she flashed her access card across a keypad.

James looked at her with surprise. "We are going down?"

Amy's smiled broadened slightly. "Oh yes, Dr. Pierce. Into the depths you might say."

* * *

Willow paid the cabbie and rushed into the lobby of the tall skyscraper that housed the offices of untold numbers of businesses and law firm. Her appointment was on the twenty second floor, about half way up the building.

As she waited for an elevator, she wondered again why Angel had said she needed to meet the attorney in person to see if he was appropriate and willing to help with Tara's brother. He didn't give her a specific name, but gave her the number of a law firm and told her to ask for the governmental assistance department.

She thought it was odd but had called the number Angel provided and a pleasant but sterile operator had taken her message and called her back a few minutes later and asked if she could come to a meeting with the attorney today, Thursday. She had come over during her lunch hour and was hoping she wouldn't be too late getting back.

When she arrived on the twenty second floor, she found the designated office number and entered to find a young man in a military uniform seated at a desk in front of an inner door with an access card lock.

"I'm here to meet with an attorney from the governmental assistance department?" Willow asked wondering what Angel had gotten her into. If this is the right place, she laughed to herself, it is over the top cloak and dagger.

The young Marine looked down at a paper on his desk. "Dr. Rosenberg?" When she nodded he added, "May I see some identification?"

Just then the inner door opened and a tall, well-built man in his thirties emerged. "That won't be necessary Sergeant. Dr. Rosenberg and I go way back."

Willow couldn't hide the shock on her face. "Riley?"

"Hi Willow. Come on in, I hear you need some help." Riley ushered her into a comfortable but clearly government office and offered her a seat, a grin never leaving his face. "Surprised to see me?"

"You could say that. I guess we thought you were still traipsing around the jungle killing things." Now that the shock of seeing Riley Finn was wearing off, Willow's mind came up with a million questions. "You are an attorney? In San Francisco? For how long? You work for the government?"

Riley laughed. "You haven't changed, have you Willow?"

Riley proceeded to tell her an abbreviated version of how he had ended up in San Francisco. He had been injured in a demon battle and the government offered to put him through law school. He worked on legal issues regarding demon special ops projects, everything from international transport of captured demons to bailing out Special Forces team members who got into bar brawls. He had been assigned to the West coast six months earlier and had contacted Angel to discuss a certain evil law firm that was opening a branch in San Francisco.

"Wow." Willow didn't know what to say. "Well, I don't know if you can help my friend with her brother's case or not. It's not demon related, but he has been set up by someone. He's looking at a really long prison sentence or pacification if he gets convicted. Buffy and Xander are talking to someone today who may have more information."

Willow couldn't help but see the flinch in Riley's shoulders when she mentioned Buffy. It probably wasn't fair, but she needed to ask. "How's Sam?"

"She's fine. Living outside of Washington DC with a husband and two kids. We got divorced five years ago." Riley stared out the window at the fog covered city.

Now it was Willow cringing. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me to ask when you are here being nice. Do you think you can help Tara's brother?"

"I honestly don't know, but I will look into it. I have to be in Sacramento next week for a meeting with some legislators." Riley stepped back to his desk and looked at some notes. I'll stop by the jail and meet this, Donald Maclay Jr, see what is going on."

"Thank you so much. I can bring Tara by to meet you too, if you'd like." Willow smiled and her eyes got a little unfocused. "She could fill you in on the details."

Riley laughed again. "I'm glad to see you're happy Willow. How's everyone else?"

"Xander's fine, thanks for asking." Willow answered with a smirk. "Buffy's fine Riley, still single. It's alright if I tell her we met right? That you might be able to help?"

"Sure Will. It's all business."

"Right. All business."

* * *

James thought he was going to be sick. The half demon/half human creature moaning in the cage in front of him was worse than any autopsy case he had ever seen. Maybe because the thing was a grotesque mixture of skin and scales that shouldn't exist. It was clearly dying, and he wished it would do so quickly, to put both of them out of their misery.

"So Dr. Pierce, that concludes our tour of the lower levels. The Chairman would like to see you now so I will escort you to his office on the tenth floor."

How could this woman be so chipper while he was turning various shades of green? He had noticed earlier that the white coat Amy had donned when they entered the first lab had identified her as the Director of Laboratory Affairs, whatever that title meant.

She had taken him through the processing section where the pacification serum was produced first, a boring half hour looking at test tubes whirling inside machinery. The next level held a hospital type wing where several human 'volunteers' were undergoing a variety of physical examinations and blood draws. Most of the subjects appeared to be post-pacification and voiced no complaint at the poking and prodding they were being subjected to.

James could never have prepared himself for the final level. As they rode the elevator, Ms. Madison's voice had remained light and airy, as if she was describing her favorite dinner selections. Instead she was previewing what he was about to see, the true source of the pacification serum.

His mind tried to absorb the concept that demons were real. That should have been easy when several were huddled directly in front of him, behind thick glass. They were large, lumpy and covered in gray scales, moving slowly in a shuffling gate. He was reminded if anything of the way oxen moved, except on two feet. But one look into the eyes of these creatures showed a disturbingly conscious awareness.

When Ms. Madison had suggested they move along, James had been more than ready thinking they were headed back upstairs. Then she had exposed him to that final horror. Her explanation of why the hybridization was required drifted through his mind without awareness as his nausea rose uncontrollably.

Now he was riding the elevator up to a meeting with the Chairman, and the sudden jolt of the car upward did nothing to keep his stomach from roiling. At least he made it out of the elevator and to a trash can in the hallway before he lost his breakfast. He wiped the sweat from his brow and used a handkerchief on his mouth as Ms. Madison waited impatiently nearby tapping her foot.

He needed to pull himself together. He was an experienced forensic pathologist who had seen things ordinary people couldn't imagine. Mutant demon hybrids shouldn't bother him. He took a deep breath and willed his stomach to calm. "I'm ready Amy."

"Good Dr. Pierce. The Chairman is waiting."

* * *

"He's not gonna show Buff." Xander said for the third time.

"Let's give him ten more minutes. You know these guys don't care about being on time." Buffy thought Xander was probably right, but they had driven for ninety minutes to be here and she wasn't anxious to head back empty handed.

"Fine. Got any more of those chips? Sitting here doing nothing is making me hungry." Xander poked the Slayer in the side.

Buffy tossed the bag in his lap before frowning out the passenger window of the nondescript sedan they were driving. They were sitting in an alley behind a group of bars in a run-down part of Sacramento. Her contact had promised his snitch had information and would be cooperative for the right incentive. He had apparently pissed off some local vampires and was thrilled to hear that someone might not just believe him, but actually be able to help him. So not showing up was probably a bad sign, really bad.

Thirty minutes later Buffy called her contact and verified he had not heard from the snitch either. "Let's go Xan. It's a bust."

"Thank you for riding with Harris limousine service. We are happy to provide hours of meaningless travel to unattractive destinations in uncomfortable vehicles." Xander grumbled as he started the car and headed back toward the freeway to San Francisco.

Buffy reached over and smacked him on the arm. "This was for Tara, which means it was for Willow too."

"Ow. I know. Will is going to be disappointed. Maybe she had better luck with the mystery lawyer." Xander tried to rub his arm while driving.

"I hope so. Will is happier about this woman than I've seen her in a long time and I know she really wants to find a way to help Tara with her brother." Buffy made herself as comfortable as possible against the window and drifted off as Xander drove.

* * *

"Dr. Pierce. I see that Ms. Madison has given you the full tour." The Chairman of PAI was blatantly mocking his obvious discomfort. In the doorway Amy was smirking until the Chairman dismissed her with a wave.

The Chairman stepped over to a small bar inset into the wall of the expansive office and filled two glasses with ice water. Gesturing for both of them to sit, he handed off one of the glasses before speaking. "I brought you here today for one reason. You are a relatively new, but important member of our PAI family. I have ensured you are being paid generously for very little work. I have asked you to intercede in two medical examiner cases, and in the most recent one, Duncan Green, you completely failed me."

James felt he had to step in and defend himself. "I know I didn't get to the case in time, but that Rosenberg bitch grabbed the file and wouldn't give it to me. But I did stop the follow-up investigation."

"Your actions contributed nothing." The Chairman stated bluntly. "I provided the family with significant financial compensation in order to secure their cooperation in making that case go away. And I had to call in other favors to apply some pressure where needed. It would not be an understatement to say I am not pleased with your work product at this time."

James took a drink of his water. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"I'm glad to hear that. I wanted you to take the tour today so that you understand you are fully invested in the most sensitive information about our organization. Very few individuals have access to what you were privileged to see." The Chairman stood and approached the ceiling to floor windows that dominated one wall of the office and indicated James should come over as well. "With privilege comes responsibility Dr. Pierce. When you are asked to perform more services under your contract I expect nothing but complete compliance."

James thought about the 'volunteers' in the underground. He understood completely. "Yes sir."

"Good. Rest assured, good work will be rewarded as well." The Chairman clapped a seemingly friendly hand on James's shoulder. "I'll call Ms. Madison to escort you out."

As James headed for the office door, the Chairman spoke once more. "And James? Duncan Green and Jennifer Clausen were once similarly privileged members of our PAI family as well, understand?"

"Yes sir." James gulped. He wasn't sure he would make it back to his car without another trip to the trash can. Suddenly the retainer fee he had agreed to didn't seem nearly high enough. For now he would just have to go along with their requirements until he could find a way to extricate himself from the contract.

It was several hours later and just after dusk when the Chairman left his office at the plant and headed for the limo waiting for him in the parking lot. He slid into the back seat and was surprised to find another occupant waiting for him.

"You scared me!" The Chairman exclaimed.

"I have that effect on people." The speaker was sitting in the darkest shadow of the vehicle and made no effort to reveal himself further.

"What are you doing here?" The Chairman wasn't used to having to hide his annoyance with people.

"You would do well to watch your tone with me. Don't forget we both serve the same master. You are just providing a more. . . agreeable public face you might say." The speaker's voice had a hissing quality that made the Chairman queasy.

"My apologies. How may I be of service today?" The Chairman had no desire to get this man on his bad side; he had seen the unpleasant results on those who had.

"My Master requires the timetable be expedited. Announce the next phase of the Pacification Program and get enough serum ready." The dark speaker made the statement an unequivocal directive.

The Chairman was definitely not going to be ordered around like a flunky. "I can't do that! We aren't ready. We might be able to speed up the serum production, but the land acquisition piece isn't even complete. We should stick to the agreed upon plan."

This time the dark speaker leaned forward in his seat and raised one gloved hand slowly twisting it in the air. "Our Master decides when you are ready. He has waited many years for this, and his patience has run out."

The Chairman found himself clutching his chest suddenly feeling as if his heart was clenched in a vice. A few excruciating moments later, the pain relented and he slumped back into his seat, sweat pouring from his face.

"Do we have an understanding?" The dark speaker had relaxed back into the shadow.

"Yes. Of course." The Chairman gasped.

"Good. And don't worry about the land acquisition. I have taken that matter into my own hands and it will be resolved shortly." The speaker seemed to fold back even more into darkness. "I'll be using this vehicle tonight; I need to make a short trip out of town. You are dismissed Mr. Flint."


	8. Chapter 8-Despair and Discern

Chapter Eight-Despair and Discern

"Pam! Thank you so much for getting me in tonight." Willow was beaming at her friend in the white hat and coat of a sous chef.

"Will, it is so good to see you! Let me look at your gorgeous self. Damn girl, you look hot. I hope this chick appreciates what she's getting." The chef teased.

Willow smiled through her blush. "Thanks. I've missed you. Come over to the firehouse and visit sometime."

Pam nodded. "Soon. You were one of the few people that didn't treat me like an insane pariah when I dropped out of medical school to go to cooking school. You stayed my friend and that means everything to me."

The chef looked regretfully back at the kitchen when a loud crash sounded. "Sorry, I have to get back there. I've set aside two slices of my special tiramisu for you and your date, unless she gets smart and takes you home and makes you dessert!"

Willow playfully punched her friend in the arm still blushing. "Go, cook. I'm going to wait at the bar until Tara gets here. As usual, I'm a little early. Come out later and I'll introduce you, Ok?"

The chef returned to the kitchen nodding as Willow took a strategic seat at the bar that allowed her to see the entrance to the restaurant and ordered a glass of red wine from the bartender.

As she sipped from her glass Willow couldn't stop thinking about how much could change in less than two weeks. In that short time Tara had altered something inside of her, in the best possible way. With her quiet sensuality Tara had slipped into her heart, had fit like a key into a lock she hadn't realized was rusting shut with age and disuse. It had been so long since she had allowed herself to have these emotions, this hope. This was still their first official date, but Willow knew her feelings were already strong.

Willow could still feel Tara's soft lips on hers, the way their fingers interlaced with soft skin sparking. She knew she would never tire of the way the blonde said her name like a gentle warm breeze. With her eyes closed she could see the soft curves of the other woman, imagine her hands drifting over them, anxious to please.

She had become so lost in her thoughts, it wasn't until she took the last sip of her second glass of wine that Willow realized she had been sitting at the bar for a while. Looking at her phone she saw it was seven thirty and Tara was half an hour late. Frowning slightly she was determined to give her another half hour before getting concerned.

As the minutes ticked by she tried to remember if she had told Tara the reservation was at eight, but she was pretty sure she had said seven. She only made it fifteen minutes before deciding a quick call could confirm if Tara was just running late. When the phone went directly to voice mail, she left an upbeat message asking for Tara to let her know if she was going to be much longer.

At eight o'clock Willow texted Tara and then called again, leaving a slightly more concerned message. Willow hadn't actually spoken to Tara since Monday and started to get worried that something might have happened during the field work Tara had indicated was going to take her out of town.

Or maybe it was something else. Maybe Tara had just changed her mind and didn't want to see her. Another glass of wine was set in front of her and she took a large gulp.

Willow reviewed all of her interactions with Tara over the last week since the coffee date. She had been honest with Tara thinking that she would understand with her own witchy background. But her life was strange beyond all definition and it had proven too much for all of her previous relationships.

What if the vampire attack on Monday had been the final straw? Seeing demons close up changed people and maybe Tara associated her with the appearance of the creature.

One more text, 'please call me'. One more voice mail message 'let me know you are safe at least'. One more glass of wine, ok maybe two more.

At eight forty five Pam emerged from the kitchen, her eyebrows knitting when she saw the table for two she had set for Willow and her date with a single red rose unoccupied and untouched. When she looked over at the bar, her heart sank. Her friend was slumped in a barstool, an empty wine glass in front of her. The bartender gave her a quick signal that Willow needed to be cut off and turned away to give the chef a moment of privacy.

Willow felt an arm curl around her shoulder and for just an instant her heart leapt that Tara had arrived. Instead she found herself looking into Pam's sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry Will."

Willow refused to cry in front of her friend. "Itsss ok. These thingssss happen."

"I don't think you should have any more to drink honey. Can I call you a cab?" Pam offered quietly.

"That won't be necessary, I'll get her home."

Both Pam and Willow looked up surprised. "Buffy. I'm really glad you are here. Did Willow call you?" Pam asked.

"No. I got a phone call from Tara." Buffy's face was a mask of pain.

Willow tried to jump to her feet, stumbling slightly into the arms of her best friend. "Tara? Is she all right? Where is sssshe?"

"We need to get you home Will. I'll tell you everything I know when we get there, Ok? Xander's got the car out front." Buffy waved goodbye to Pam mouthing a 'thank you' before half carrying Willow out of the restaurant.

Buffy settled Willow into the back seat and as soon as she climbed into the other side Willow slumped into her with quiet sobs. "What did Tara say?"

At that moment Buffy wanted nothing more than to be a Slayer with a certain blonde witch. She sighed and stroked her hand through Willow's loosely curled red hair. "You look really pretty tonight Will. She doesn't deserve you."

"Nooooo." Buffy didn't know Willow was capable of making a sound like that. It was heartbreak and sadness and loneliness all incorporated into one moaned word that came from somewhere deep inside. She didn't bother to stop her own tears as her best friend clutched her; her tears would amount to nothing compared to the flood pouring from green eyes onto her lap.

By the time they got back to the firehouse, all three of the lifelong friends were crying. Xander and Buffy got Willow up the stairs and into her room where Xander said goodnight with an 'I love you' and a soft kiss to Willow's forehead. Buffy got her friend a glass of water and aspirin.

"You can tell me now Buff. I'll live." Willow took the glass and pain killers gratefully from the Slayer's hand.

"It wasn't really much of a conversation." Buffy sat down dejectedly on the edge of Willow's bed. "She said something had happened and she had to go back to her family's farm. She said she couldn't meet up, things weren't working."

Willow couldn't keep a few tears from coming again, but she was too drained for anything else.

This time Buffy spoke angrily through gritted teeth. "I started to ask her why, to tell her she needed to talk to you herself, but she hung up. She was so flippant and it was like a ten second conversation."

"Thank you Buffy. For coming to get me, for telling me, mostly for being my friend, again." Willow hugged her tightly. "I've got to try to get some sleep now. I'm on call this weekend and have to be at work in a few hours."

"I'm so sorry Will. Dammit, I really liked her too. You sure you're Ok?" Buffy asked as she started to get up from the bed.

"No. But I will be." Willow settled down onto her pillow and gave Buffy a sad smile. "Goodnight."

After the Slayer left her room Willow found she had stopped crying, but she spent the night staring at the ceiling with her hands over the place on her chest where her heart used to be. Whatever had replaced it was cold, heavy and hurt like hell.

* * *

The dead wait for no woman and they certainly were lined up for Willow the next morning. Slightly hung over and sleepless made for a miserable day, but she didn't really mind. The abundance of cases kept her focused on something other than the disaster the previous night had been and how desperately sad she felt.

She moved through the day's autopsies on autopilot, making sure to document her findings carefully in her frayed emotional state. Finally the last case file was gone from the stack and she was free to head up to her office to finish dictations and paperwork for the day.

"Dr. Rosenberg?" Willow turned to find one of the part-time autopsy assistants looking at her sheepishly. "I don't know where the case file is, but there is one more body in the incoming cooler. It's a case from the central valley, got here last night."

Of course. If anything else could go wrong this weekend, it probably would. What difference did it make to her? She might as well do another case; she had no reason to hurry home.

"You working the late shift tonight? Aren't you usually on days?" The assistant nodded. "Steve's out sick so I'm filling in. Don't know how that case got missed, sorry."

Willow tried to smile without much success. "It's fine. Go ahead and pull out the cart and prep the body. I'll go see if I can track down the file."

No one in the field investigations office seemed to know what had happened to the file, but one of the investigators printed off the one page case brief for her. She scanned it quickly. It was a man in his late fifties, agricultural accident. The poor man had been crushed under his combine. Willow was a city kid, but that didn't sound good. What exactly was a combine? She decided she could look up pictures later. For now she could get the autopsy done quickly so his family could make funeral arrangements as soon as possible.

The next few days for Willow were a fog of work, too little sleep and too many tears. She didn't even bother to hide her sadness.

She tried to apply logic to her situation. She had only known Tara for a few days really and that hardly qualified as a relationship. Yes, she had been more hopeful than usual, probably due to the magickal connection the two had, but that didn't change the fact that they had only had one coffee date. And Tara had dumped her without even the courtesy of a phone call leaving her embarrassed at the restaurant.

So why did it still hurt so much?

Elise was worried for her friend. She had never seen the usually ebullient redhead like this. Willow had told her she had been stood up by the blonde and had tried to laugh it off as no big deal, but Elise knew better. She had seen how excited Willow was about seeing this new woman, and suddenly it was over. She only wished she knew what to do to help.

By Wednesday morning Elise couldn't take it anymore. It was an unusually quiet morning with only a couple of cases so before Willow could head off to the morgue, Elise appeared in her office demanding an espresso.

After cajoling a cup from her morose friend, it was time to speak up. "I think you should take some time off Willow." Elise was trying her best to project caring and firmness at the same time. "You haven't taken a vacation since you've been working here, so I know you have the days. Go up to Sonoma or the coast; relax, drink, cry, whatever you need to do."

Willow surprised her by getting up out of her chair, coming over and hugging her around the neck. "Thank you for caring." She stood back up and wiped a quick tear from her cheek. "I'm actually off for a couple days from working the weekend. I'll be fine by Monday, promise."

Both women looked over as Dr. Banks appeared in the doorway. "Case just came in. Can one of you ladies handle it?"

"I will." Willow answered immediately. After Dr. Banks nodded and left she held up her hand to stop the protest she knew was coming from her friend. "I need the distraction, really. I'll do this case and head home."

"Fine. Please call me if you need anything. We could have a girls night this weekend if you need more distractions." Elise added as she headed back to her office.

Willow wandered down to the morgue and found her case, an ocean drowning. The autopsy assistant had set up in the station next to where James Pierce was starting his own case. James studiously ignored her and Willow was more than happy to reciprocate. She was surprised to see his autopsy was a decomp. It was another type of case James usually avoided if he could.

The decomposed body was an elderly woman who had probably been found at home based on the robe and slippers she was wearing. As the assistant took off the clothing, Willow could see the effects of decomposition clearly. The woman's skin was a diffuse dark green and had started to slip in places and there was post-mortem insect activity. The odor was strong and unpleasant, but she had come to accept that as part of the job.

Willow didn't see any obvious wounds on the woman from a distance, but the decomposition made that aspect more difficult. She estimated the elderly woman had probably been dead about a week before being discovered. Willow sadly thought she probably lived alone and had no family.

Her attention was diverted back to her own case for the next hour. She was just finishing up some notes when she heard the autopsy assistant working with Dr. Pierce speak up. "Doc? Is it Ok if I put Mrs. Darby back in the cooler?"

"Sure, I'm done." James answered without looking up from his cell phone where he was furiously texting.

Willow rolled her eyes as she gathered her things to leave the morgue. Walking back to her office she found her pace slowing. Something was happening in her head, she just couldn't quite put it together. By the time she reached her office, she was completely frustrated. Ever since the strange events surrounding the Duncan Green case it was as if she was missing things.

Maybe it was just exhaustion and misery tormenting her. In the past, even when she had suffered loss, she had always been able to bounce back, maybe too fast at times. But it was just the way her brain worked. She was a naturally optimistic person and couldn't sustain being down in the dumps for very long.

Somehow this time felt different. She had no closure with Tara. She knew the other woman didn't really owe her any explanation, but the refusal to even speak to her left a gnawing hole.

Her mind kept drifting back to the morgue and James Pierce's decomposed woman. She could hear his autopsy assistant in her mind. What had he said that was so important? Willow closed her eyes and tried a brief focusing meditation she had learned from her time with the coven in England. Over time she had learned to trust her instincts when something seemed inconsequential but kept pinging in her mind.

But she had trusted her instincts with Tara and had been proven wrong. Or had she? Willow just didn't know anymore. It took longer than usual, but the meditative state calmed her, and she reflected on what was triggering her.

The autopsy assistant had asked about putting the body away after James's autopsy. That wasn't unusual. No, she thought, he had asked to put Mrs. Darby back into the cooler. Mrs. Darby was the decomposed elderly woman. Did she know an elderly woman named Mrs. Darby? No one came to mind.

The ring of her cell phone startled her out of her trance. She looked at the screen and saw that Riley Finn was calling. She hadn't spoken to him since last week at his office and she realized he had probably gone to see Donnie Maclay in jail. "Riley, hi."

"Hey Willow. Just wanted to let you know I visited with your friend's brother today in Sacramento. He seems like a nice enough guy. I told him I would talk to his public defender about helping out if he wanted me to." Riley offered.

"That's really nice of you Riley. Do you think there is anything you can do?" Willow felt uncomfortable now. She had gotten Riley into this and now she didn't even know if Tara wanted their help.

"Not sure yet, I'll let you know after I talk to the other lawyer." Willow heard mumbling in the background of Riley's phone. "I've got to go Willow, but Donnie did want to know if you could ask Tara to visit. Apparently he has tried to contact her and she hasn't responded to his messages."

"Donnie hasn't been able to reach Tara? For how long?" Willow asked confused.

"I don't know. Sorry Willow, I have to run." The phone clicked off in her ear, but Willow could hear a rising buzz permeating her brain.

With a flash it hit her. She could hear Tara's voice from the last time they had spoken on the phone. It had been about the vampire attack. "Mrs. Darby didn't warn me when she rented me this apartment." Mrs. Darby. Could that be Tara's landlady? She needed to see the case file in the investigators office.

Willow found her feet carried her quickly to the other part of the building now. She grabbed the manila file and was scanning down the information page to find the address when Christina Grubber interrupted her by placing an official looking paper over what she was reading.

"Could you please sign this Dr. Rosenberg? I emailed you yesterday, but I guess a county burial is not your biggest priority."

Willow didn't even try to hide her irritation with the lead investigator. "I'm busy, Christina." She was in the process of brushing the paper aside to resume her reading when the name on the burial paper made her freeze in place. "Maclay."

Now Grubber had her undivided attention. "What case is this?" She demanded.

The insufferable woman frowned. "Your case Dr. Rosenberg. The agricultural accident from the weekend? Donald Maclay Sr., crushed by a combine on his farm? Turns out his wife is dead, son is in jail, and no one can find his daughter, so he needs to be processed for county burial. You need to sign the authorization."

Now Willow did brush away the form, but more gently. Her finger traced down the information page for Mrs. Darby to the address section. She was found dead at home in Berkeley."

Suddenly the annoying background buzzing in Willow's head coalesced into a precision laser. Donnie set up and arrested and facing a long prison sentence. Mrs. Darby dead. Tara's landlady? Donald Sr. dead, crushed by a combine. Tara's father? No one can find the daughter. Tara was missing.

"What are you doing looking at Dr. Pierce's case file anyway?" Grubber asked, tugging on the folder Willow was holding.

Willow looked down and quickly memorized the address in Mrs. Darby's file. "Oh, wrong one I guess. I was actually looking for the file on Mr. Maclay, do you know where that is?"

"Yes. I have it to do the county burial?" Grubber was waving the form and looking at her with disdain.

Willow was done with this woman. She was done feeling sad and insecure. Something was going on and now she had real information to work with. "Give me the form, along with the rest of the case file on Mr. Maclay. I will take it to my office to review and return the form when I feel it is appropriate Investigator Grubber."

The lead investigator started to say something, but changed her mind and retrieved the Maclay file without comment.

Willow took it back to her office, read it from cover to cover and copied down the address of the farm. She then locked the file in her desk drawer. Thankful that she did have the next four days off she picked up her phone.

"Buffy? Something has happened to Tara. I have to find her."


	9. Chapter 9-Back on the Farm

Chapter Nine-Back on the Farm

Tara decided that terror was a powerful incentive. She had been running for what felt like miles, further than she had ever run without stopping in her life. Open fields had given way to almond orchards. Running through the crops had been relatively pain free. It was still early in the season and the stalks only reached her knees.

The orchards were more of a problem. It was past midnight and the little moonlight shining down was lost under the canopy. The trees in this back area of the farm had not been tended properly and the branches were overgrown and low hanging. Every few feet she felt the sting of leaves and shoots on her arms and face, like miniature fangs reminding her of the horrors from which she was fleeing.

The ground here was uneven as well and it ultimately proved her undoing. Her foot caught a root and she spilled forward, landing hard on her palms and wrists. She cried out at the pain in her left wrist and wondered if it was broken.

She got back on her feet, but found her pace much diminished. She was frustrated by her inability to find what she was seeking. As a teenager she had known every step of these orchards and the foothills behind them. She had tended the trees with love and care and now they were unrecognizable to her.

Finally she came to the back line of the orchard and found the strength to sprint over the open area between the trees and the low buttressing hills which further east rose to become the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The hills were her second home. She had spent countless hours wandering over and between them in her youth.

But mostly she had found her way inside and under the hills. Few outside her family knew about the interconnected caverns that crisscrossed the foothills in this area. Her mother had begun to take her to several of the caves as a young child. She was headed for the entrance of one of those now.

The farm and hilly land behind it had been in her family for generations. It had been passed down through her Mother's line. Part of her Father's resentment towards her stemmed from not just the magickal maternal inheritance, but the tangible one. He had insisted he be the sole owner and that the name of the farm be changed to Maclay after she died.

The magick and the caverns were connected. Several of the cave walls were naturally embedded with crystalline particles which provided clarifying and amplification properties to the magick of natural witches. She had learned how to harness these energies under the gentle tutelage of her mother.

Now she hoped her knowledge of the caverns would provide shelter and allow her to lose the demonic creatures pursuing her. Tara cut between two low hills and slowed to round a boulder that marked the hidden entrance to the caverns. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and to listen for the two vampires that had set out to catch her from the worker's quarters at the neighboring farm.

When she heard them approaching from behind, Tara stepped forward to conceal herself in the cavern only to find two more vampires already occupying the entrance. Her eyes quickly scanned around, seeking an escape that wasn't available. She had vampires in front and behind her and rock lining the sides of the path.

She placed her back against the stone of the boulder and began an incantation she hoped would help to hide her. Before the first line was complete another person stepped out of the dark entrance of the cave.

"None of that witch." The voice spoke English, but had a strange unpleasant quality. At his command the vampires rushed forward. One set secured her hands behind her back while the other secured a gag and blindfold in place.

Tara realized she had run for hours, only to bring herself to exactly where they seemingly wanted her. She had been all but herded like an animal to the slaughterhouse. Now she was trussed helplessly waiting to see if this man was the butcher.

The vampires pushed and carried her roughly into the entrance of the cavern. They traveled for some time down passageways until even Tara's sense of direction became confused. When they stopped she could sense the space around her and knew they were in one of the larger caves. The ties, blindfold and gag were removed and she was pushed down to her knees.

The previous speaker was now in front of her but she still could not see much of his features. The space was lit by only a few candles and he was wearing a long cloak with a deep hood, hiding his face in its shadow. "Any speaking beyond answering my questions will result in immediate punishment from my vampire colleagues, and they are anxious to be allowed to hurt you. Then, if you are still alive, the gag will be replaced, understand?"

Tara nodded, too afraid to even answer questions at the moment.

"Good. Do you know why you are here?" The strange voice continued.

"Wwweee saw, wwwhat was being done to the workers, the pacification program." There was no point in lying; she knew they had seen Tara, her boss Javier and co-worker Sarah, poor Sarah, trying to talk to the workers at the neighboring farm.

"While that is true, and part of the problem, there is another reason you will remain here and alive, for now. You may be able to assist me with something in the near future. Your cooperation may weigh in the outcome. It is not an exaggeration to say your life may be in the balance."

The cloaked man began to withdraw from the room as he spoke until he was at the single entrance into the space. "To underscore the importance of making the right decision, I will leave you with a reminder of one alternative outcome."

A vampire at the entrance pushed someone into the cave. It was Javier. He stood stock still where his momentum had carried him, not attempting any further movement.

Tara ran to him, embracing him fiercely. It took a moment but she realized he was not returning her greeting at all. She loosened her grasp enough to peer into his face. His expression was completely blank, his eyes focused, but not registering her presence. She took another step back and quickly scanned his aura as tears came to her eyes. She had seen this aura for the first time several hours ago at the neighbor's farm.

"I wonder what I could do to a pacified witch? That might be fun, I shall definitely keep that option in mind!" She could hear the cloaked man's laugh fading as he traveled away through the stone passageway, leaving her deep in the cavern with several vampire guards and the shell of a man that had once been her boss and friend.

* * *

"Will, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just, you know, you were pretty upset Friday night, and maybe you are looking for an explanation, well one other than the obvious one." Buffy was pacing around the living space the two shared as Willow stood with her hands on her hips tapping one toe impatiently. "I mean, she called and said she didn't want to see you anymore!"

Now Willow narrowed her eyes at her best friend. "That's different than what you said before about her call. Buffy, what exactly did she say?"

Buffy stopped her pacing and took a deep breath, then flopped down onto the couch and closed her eyes. Willow sat down softly at the other end. "Take your time. This is important."

Buffy nodded and tried to think back to that short troubling one-way conversation. She had answered the call without recognizing the number. When she heard Tara's voice she was confused and initially concerned that something had happened to Willow because she knew the two witches were supposed to be on their date.

What exactly had Tara said? "Hi. Something has happened and I have to go to my family's farm." The words floated in her head and Buffy remembered thinking it was strange that Tara was speaking as if to Willow and very casually. "So I can't meet up with you tonight, things this week just aren't working out."

"Oh my God, Buffy. What if she was trying to tell us she was in trouble? Tara was going with her boss out to some farm to interview the workers, the ones in the pacification program. What if that was the 'thing not working out?' I know you might think I'm overreacting and am about to head into stalker territory, but everything that has happened with the deaths and her brother's arrest, that can't all be coincidence."

Willow could see Buffy was still not convinced. "Come with me to her apartment. If everything looks fine I will never mention Tara Maclay again. Please Buffy, I can't describe it, but I have a feeling about this, like one of your Slayer dreams. I think it's important, and not just for me."

"Fine. I know you are going to check this out no matter what and I don't want you to go alone." Buffy smiled sadly. "I just don't want to see you get hurt anymore. You deserve some happiness."

Willow scooted over until she could reach the Slayer and hugged her tight. "You too Buffy, you too."

Since Xander was on Annabelle Flint security duty that night Willow drove to the address she had found for Mrs. Darby in Berkeley. Buffy's already poor driving skills had taken a nosedive in the crowded hilly city and she had been permanently relegated to the passenger seat.

Willow pulled into the driveway and parked. Just as Tara had described, she was facing a garage with an upstairs apartment. To their right was the main house, with a side entrance from the driveway.

"Let's check out the apartment first." Willow suggested as they got out of the car. No lights were visible from either the main house or the apartment. The two women climbed the stairs to the landing and Buffy stepped forward and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Willow tried to peek into the window next to the door, but the blinds were drawn.

"I'm going to unlock the door and open it." Willow was more convinced by the second that something was wrong. Buffy started to say something, but just nodded and positioned herself in front of the door in a defensive stance.

Willow muttered an incantation and waved her hand at the doorknob and both women heard a soft click. A second incantation and wave resulted in only a frown from the witch. "That should have opened the door."

Buffy reached out to try the doorknob until Willow's hand came down sharply on her forearm.

"Ow. What did you do that for?" The Slayer rubbed her arm with her other hand.

"Big baby." Willow mocked. "Watch." Willow quietly incanted a phrase in Latin before grasping the door handle herself. When she did, sparks danced off the metal all around Willow's hand. "Tara has protection spells on the apartment. I guarded my hand."

As they entered the apartment, two things were instantly clear. Tara was gone and someone else had been there. The furniture was still in place, but the bookshelves had been rifled and the shelves and drawers ransacked. It was impossible to tell if anything had been taken, although the TV was still there.

Buffy moved through the small space on high alert. The entry point of the thieves was a broken window in the kitchen above the sink. It would only be accessible from the roof; probably not an access point Tara had been concerned about protecting from criminals. "No ordinary person could get into this window." Buffy called out.

The bedroom was the same; drawers pulled out and emptied onto the floor, as if the thieves had been searching for something.

"All clear. From the looks of the kitchen, nobody has been here for several days. What do you think they were looking for?" Buffy asked Willow who was sorting through books on the living room floor. The witch seemed to be in deep contemplation as she looked at the jumbled stacks. Something caught her eye tucked under an open romance novel. It was a doll's eye crystal, a beautiful one, and she took a moment to admire the clarity of magick and sense of Tara the object provided resting in her palm.

"Did you see any magick books in the bedroom?" Willow jumped up and ran in herself before Buffy could even answer, slipping the crystal into her pocket without noticing.

She moved around the bed, looked under it, and then looked into the closet. "No books on magick or Wicca. Nothing but novels and textbooks. I loaned her a book on the history of Gods and Goddesses and I don't see it here. It's not the kind of thing you would take with you on the road."

"You think someone broke in here to take old books?" Buffy found that hard to believe.

Willow scowled at the Slayer. "I don't know. But something has happened to Tara. She hasn't been here and combined with her call last Friday, I think we should look for her. Maybe she is just at the farm and someone happened to break in, but I'd feel better if we checked it out, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah. Let's go, we've been here awhile." Buffy led the way as they descended the staircase. "Poor landlady, died right there in that house and nobody knew for days."

That brought another concern to Willow's mind. "James Pierce did her autopsy. I thought it was strange that he volunteered to do a decomp, but now I'm even more suspicious. I need to see her file."

Buffy nodded. "Let's get back to the firehouse and figure out our next step."

* * *

Tara found it best to stay as far away from the cave entrance and the vampires as the space allowed. The shadows were longer at the back and she sensed more frequent scurrying creatures, but it provided her the illusion of a safe area to rest. She had slept infrequently and fitfully over the last week, trying to watch out for not only herself, but Javier as well.

At the moment he sat where she had placed him next to her, not even leaning back against the cave wall. He wouldn't, she had discovered, unless she pushed him into that position. He also wouldn't lie down to sleep or eat unless she showed him how.

For now she closed her eyes and tried to comprehend what had transpired since last Thursday. They were supposed to head back to the city that night; Tara had big plans for dinner with Willow on Friday. But Javier had insisted they try once more to breach the security around one of the newly PAI owned farms in order to reach the workers.

After consulting their map, Tara had suggested the farm located just south of the one owned by her family. She hadn't known the owner had sold out to PAI. In fact, looking at the map, she saw her father was one of the last holdouts in the Sacramento Valley. For once, she was glad for his stubborn streak.

So after dusk on Thursday the three had set out across the fields toward the barracks that they suspected held the pacified workers. As usual they found an electrified fence around the structures, allegedly used to keep animals out.

Luck seemed to be on their side when a segment of the fence was damaged and easily crossed. They got inside one of the barracks and found rows of bunk beds, each containing a man in a t-shirt and boxers, lying on their right sides. Some were asleep while others stared straight ahead. None acknowledged their presence.

Javier approached the closest and began to speak to him, trying English and then Spanish. He got no response.

"I'm going to try to find a women's barrack." Sarah whispered in her ear and slipped back out the door.

Tara thought she probably should go with her, but since entering the barrack, she had felt slightly nauseous and wanted to meld back into the corner away from these men. She watched as Javier took out a small handheld video camera and began filming the men lying like statues in the bunks.

Her eyes began to close as she concentrated on the feelings she was getting and she saw a flash of an aura nearby. Focusing her powers, she saw the same aura repeated over and over, in every man in the barracks except Javier.

It was like no aura she had ever experienced. What had happened to these men? Obviously something unnatural was going on with the pacification. This zombie existence was not what the 'volunteers' were being promised. The aura was a deep gray interspersed with flashes of angry red that shot out like flares from the sun.

She had never seen so much gray in a person's aura. Usually people could tolerate very little gray, it denoted deep repression in humans. She had seen the red flashes before in brief instances of extreme anger. Her father had been adept at flaring red.

When the two men ran in and grabbed Javier, she barely had time to register what had happened. They did not turn on any lights in the dark space and moved quickly. As they were marching him towards the door, Tara tried to fade into the darkness. But one of the men turned and sniffed the air before signaling to his companion to continue out the door with her boss.

The man approached her without faltering, as if he could see keenly in the dark. For some reason it wasn't until he grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted her clear off the ground that she realized he was a vampire.

When he had carried her outside and deposited her roughly on the ground next to Javier, Tara heard Sarah scream. Seconds later she was led out from a different barracks and shoved down next to them.

"Now what do we have here? Three little pigs, all in a row." Tara looked up to find three vampires standing loosely around them, with one speaking.

For the second time in a week, and the second time in her life, Tara found herself watching the face of a vampire shift into its demonic form. "Too bad you are in our house and I'm the big bad wolf!"

The vampire reached out and grabbed Sarah from the ground and in one swift pull he had her back to his front and was tilting her head to the side. She saw the glimmer of fangs for an instant before he sank them deep into her neck and began to suck hard.

Sarah's screams quickly became muffled groans as the vampire gulped and swallowed. The other two vampires were circling closer to he and his victim and both had switched to their demonic form clearly excited by what was happening.

When the leader let his grasp go, the other two jumped in to replace him, one on each side of Sarah's neck. They wasted no time in taking what was left from the body of the limp girl and the leader fell to his knees, raised the skirt the woman was wearing and sank his already bloodied fangs into the top of her thigh. The three demons growled and sucked as they held her friend in a gruesome embrace.

Tara knew she and Javier had a slim chance if they acted now. She chanted a spell to create fog she had used to hide from her father in the orchard as a child. As the dark cloud enveloped them, she grabbed her boss by the arm and pulled him across the compound. When they got to the fence line he suddenly stopped.

"We can't leave her with those things Tara! We have to go back." Tara remembered thinking she had always admired Javier's noble selflessness.

"Those things were vampires Javier. Sarah is dead, she was dead before we ran. The best we can do for her is get this information out, so that people know what is going on here. I have some friends who can help." Tara tugged on his arm again. "We have to go now."

"I'm sorry Tara, I can't. You go, run." He turned back and took only four steps before the vampires found him again. Tara redoubled the fogging spell and scurried through the gap in the fence. Part of her felt disloyal for leaving her friends, but she knew what she had told Javier was right. It did no one any good if all three of them died here tonight.

So she ran.

* * *

Xander really didn't like Annabelle Flint. It didn't reflect well on him he knew, to dislike a fifteen year old girl this intensely, but Annabelle had pushed him too far this time.

She had asked him if she could go see a friend for the evening, but they both knew she wanted to meet up with her current 'boyfriend' who was some guy she had chatted with on the internet. The guy was probably thirty five and married with three kids, but Annabelle didn't get that yet. So Xander had accepted he was the bad guy tonight. Why couldn't this have been Buffy's night to babysit?

This time though, a simple no was not enough to dissuade the teenager. Annabelle had devised a simple but effective plan to get out of the house. When she invited Xander to watch a movie with her, he should have known something was up. But he took her up on the peace offering and flopped down into the comfy recliner she indicated with a bucket of popcorn already sitting on the side table in easy reach in the darkened room. She started the movie and then asked if Xander could get drinks.

It was then he discovered that the dark leather chair had been covered with a clear layer of superglue. Annabelle had laughed as he yelled and wriggled out of his shirt and pants, leaving him in socks and underwear and missing a few patches of skin. Then she had suggested he borrow some clothes from her father.

As soon as he had left the room the teenager had stolen the keys from his glued pants pocket and taken the car. It took a while for Xander to find Mr. Flint's private quarters. The chairman of PAI had made certain areas off limits in the mansion, including the family bedrooms. Xander was busy opening doors looking for something that might hold men's clothing and instead found a small office crowded with papers and books.

He was about to leave when he noticed a map with extensive markings outlining the farmland north and south of Sacramento. The farms were color coded and most had been covered by diagonal slashes to indicate purchase by PAI. Only a few areas of color remained with one area of bright red that served as a buffer between the areas owned by PAI.

In addition to the red color, the name of the farm stood out, Maclay. Could this be Tara's family? Where she was supposed to have returned to according to Buffy? Why did Mr. Flint have this map in his house?

Xander looked at the papers on the desk nearby. The name Maclay was on several, including one that said Will and Testament and one that said Bill of Sale. It only took a minute for Xander to decide. He knew they would probably be fired for the stunt Annabelle pulled tonight, and that was if he found her before her father got home. If something bad happened to the girl, he shuddered to think what Mr. Flint might do.

He quickly rolled the papers up inside the map. The next door was the master bedroom and he quickly found a pair of ill-fitting pants and a dress shirt that probably cost as much as his wardrobe.

Now all he needed was to find his car and Annabelle. Luckily Willow had set up GPS tracking which he could access with a phone call.

* * *

Tara felt filthy. Not in a naughty girl sort of way, which she never was, but in an actual dirt embedded in every square inch of her skin sort of way. She had never gone so many days without bathing before, and it was not an experience she intended to repeat. Once she had been brought a basin filled with water, but she could only clean her face and arms since the vampire guards never left the cave. She certainly wasn't going to undress in front of demons.

It was hard to tell time so deep inside the earth, but she guessed it had been about six days since her capture by the cloaked man and his vampires. She had not seen her mystery captor since the day after her imprisonment. She had tried to think of a spell she could use, but she didn't know anything that could kill three or four vampires at the same time.

After being left with the now pacified man, she had spent the night and next day caring for Javier. The cloaked man had reappeared the following night carrying her travel bag. It had been in the car Javier had rented and parked on a dirt road near the neighbor's farm last night. He took out her wallet and looked through the various compartments, ignoring the bank and reward cards.

What did draw his interest was a small white business card with plain black lettering. "Chosen Investigations and Security Services. Interesting name. Why do you have this?" he asked with a forced nonchalance.

Tara had to think quickly. "We were going to talk to them about doing some work for the farm workers union. I was supposed to meet the owner tonight to go over the proposal, back in the city." Maybe, just maybe she could get a message to Buffy and Willow. It wasn't fair to endanger her new friends, but she was desperate. "They may wonder why I don't show."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" His voice had an almost lisp-like quality. It was hard to listen to; something in the tone and delivery made her head swim. "Call him. Explain, briefly, that you won't be coming."

Now was her chance, maybe her only chance. He didn't know who the owner was and assumed it was a man. She couldn't call Willow, that wouldn't work. Buffy was smart, and a Slayer. After he handed her the cell phone she dialed the number slowly. The conversation couldn't be too obvious. "Hi. Something has happened and I have to go to my family's farm. So I can't meet up with you tonight, things this week just aren't working out."

The cloaked man reached out and ended the call before smashing the phone against the far wall of the cave. "You told him you were here, at the farm! That was very stupid witch." He snapped his fingers and one of the vampires stepped forward, immediately in his demon persona. "She needs a lesson."

The vampire growled his pleasure as he grabbed her arms and held her tightly with her back against his chest, just as Sarah had been the night before. She screamed as a searing flash of pain erupted on the side of her neck. It was only seconds before she felt herself getting weak and falling into his grasp.

"Stop." She heard the command and felt another flash of pain as the fangs retracted from her skin. The vampire stepped back and she was unconscious before her limp weight hit the ground.

"I need her alive, for now."

* * *

Willow and Buffy got back to the firehouse before Xander. It had taken two hours, but he got Annabelle home unharmed just as her father had arrived. The scene had not been pleasant.

The three friends filled each other in on what had happened that day. By the time they examined the map Xander had stolen, Willow was almost in tears.

"You ok Will?" Buffy had been watching the conflicting emotions on her friend's face.

"No. This is bad. I'm sad and I'm angry and I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt Tara. She's kind and sweet and pretty, and I know that's kind of irrelevant right now, but she is." Willow was pacing around the Investigation office now.

"What do you want to do? We're with you Willow, no matter what." Xander offered and Buffy nodded.

Willow was studying the legal papers Xander had brought from Flint's office. "Some of these copies are dated tomorrow. Tara's name is on them." Willow took a deep breath and put on her resolve face.

"I think we need to head out to the farm tonight."

* * *

The next few days for Tara had been a timeless extension of fear and boredom. She slept mostly, weak from the vampire draining. She had been fed and given water in adequate quantities for both herself and Javier, who would eat when directed. The cloaked man had not made reappearance.

Tara thought frequently of Willow. Her attempt to send Buffy a covert message had clearly failed. Worse, Willow probably thought she was just breaking it off with her in an incredibly rude and hurtful way. She imagined Willow in all of her exuberance waiting at the restaurant for Tara, until Buffy had broken the news.

Part of her hoped Willow had just moved on, letting anger and disappointment put Tara out her mind quickly. Forget the woman who would stand her up like that, without even a conversation. But part of her knew that was not in the redhead's heart. She had probably been sad. Tara dreaded the thought that she might have made Willow cry.

For sure she knew that if she was able to get out of her current predicament Willow would never speak to her again. What she had done was unforgivable. Willow's best friend was a Slayer and Tara had used her as a go between, no doubt angering Buffy. Tara was facing the proverbial frying pan and fire scenario.

When the cloaked man returned, he gave off a cold fury. A bag was slung over his shoulder and Tara recognized it as one of hers, from her apartment. He stood in the center of the cave and waved one of the vampires over. After speaking to him, the vampire grabbed Tara and motioned for the other guards to take Javier from the cave.

"Where are you taking him?" Tara cried out as the vampire pinned her arms roughly.

"We have other plans for him. Young and strong, a nice specimen. He ever show you Tara? What a real man he is? Or is that not your type." The cloaked man was snarling at her now and Javier was gone.

With another gesture Tara found herself on her knees then the remaining vampire withdrew to the entryway. The cloaked man dropped the bag in front of her and pulled out a large leather bound book. Tara kept her face neutral as she recognized the volume as the one Willow had loaned her to read, the History of Gods and Goddesses.

The cloaked man reached down and flipped open the front cover. There in neat script it read 'Property of Willow Rosenberg.' Tara wanted to laugh at the image of Willow's delicate hand carefully writing in the book. She wanted to cry at the thought that now Willow might be in drawn into danger.

"How do you know Willow Rosenberg?" The question was spoken with a deep loathing.

Tara would not let her actions risk Willow, even if it caused her additional 'punishment'. "I don't." She said as confidently as she could. "I bought that at a magick shop in the city. One of those places that sell books and crystals. It looked interesting, but I haven't even read it yet."

That seemed to give him pause so she continued, hoping to distract him. "You've been in my apartment. I don't suppose you brought me any clean clothes?"

His answer was a backhand across her face. "If I find out you are lying to me about knowing Rosenberg, you will wish for the quick death of a vampire bite."

After a moment he seemed to collect himself and he reached into the bag and took out a leather portfolio, the type lawyers often carry. He flipped it open and held out a sheet of paper for her to see. "This is a bill of sale for the Maclay farm to PAI. Tomorrow you will sign it."

Tara looked at him with confusion. "My father owns the farm, not me. I can't sell it to anyone."

He leaned towards her, allowing the hood of the cloak to drift back ever so slightly. She could not make out his features, but saw a thin smile on his face. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your father suffered a tragic accident recently, fatal I'm afraid. So you and your brother own the farm as soon as the probate judge finishes the paperwork in the morning. With your brother's current situation, well, you have the legal right to sell the property. You want to make sure your brother is safe, don't you?"

Hood back in place, he stood and addressed her once more. "I'll be back tomorrow morning and we will conclude our business."


	10. Chapter 10-Country Vamps

Chapter Ten-Country Vamps

This night was quickly turning into the longest of Tara's life. She hadn't realized the impact Javier's presence had on her until he was gone. Taking care of his basic needs had provided her with a purpose, or at least a distraction from constant introspection about her dire situation.

The cloaked man would be back in a few hours expecting her to sign legal documents giving her land and heritage to the enemy. Land she had personally tended and that held a lifelong bond, despite her absence in recent years. Land that had been in her mother's family for generations.

Land that had most recently belonged to her father who, according to her captor, was dead. She couldn't even begin to wrap her mind around that fact. Her father had always seemed immortal, a constant unwavering malevolent presence. He would be forever preserved, cold and cruel, like a marble carving.

Tara thought of her fear of her father as an immutable characteristic of her personality. Years of mental cruelty with enough physical punishment added in to solidify the experience of growing up as forlorn and despondent. Acceding to the belief that her magick was demonic and that she would eventually manifest those traits and hurt those she loved without his proper control.

The irony didn't escape her. Her first time back on the farm after so many years and she was surrounded by demons like those her father had threatened she would become. His death apparently at their hands. Her magick, so carefully nurtured and crafted over the years, unable to assist her with its defensive emphasis.

Now it was her darkest hour, even if she could not sense the time of the night outside of her cave and prison. She had little illusion that doing as her captor wished would result in her release, or the safety of her brother in jail. But at the moment she could see no realistic alternative to going along and hoping for the best.

It brought bile to the back of her throat to think that was what she was best at, going along, not fighting, doing what she was told. "Yes sir, your dinner will be ready at six. Yes sir, your Sunday church pants are laundered and starched. No sir, I haven't been doing magick."

She had fled the farm so many years ago thinking she was taking control of her life, but she hadn't really. The fear had remained and had always influenced her decisions. Don't get too close, don't know too many people, don't stand out. The voice of the small child in her head always whispering.

Until Willow. Tara had been bold, initiating the most amazing kiss of her life. She found herself smiling at the memory of the two of them on the loveseat in Willow's office, wrapped together with lips and hands exploring, magick in the air.

Tara decided to think about Willow and their brief time together until morning and the return of the cloaked man. If it was her last few hours, she wanted to spend them feeling something other than despair.

She was lost in a happy glow several hours later when she noticed a light, like a firefly but glowing blue, flitting around the entrance to the cave. She looked to see if the vampires had noticed, but they were busy playing their nightly poker game. Suddenly the light darted in and directly to her. She held up her hand and it rested on her palm before jumping and vibrating and flying back out of the cave.

She watched for a few minutes, but the light didn't return. Whatever that tiny blue orb had been, it had left her with a warm feeling coursing down her arm and infusing her body. Maybe she had created the light unconsciously while daydreaming, because when it had touched her, she felt Willow.

* * *

"Well, she certainly isn't here! This place is trashed." Anya's voice carried annoyance with a heavy undertone of sleep deprivation as she set down the short broadsword she carried as her weapon of choice on Scooby missions.

"We can see that Anya." Buffy barked when she saw Willow's face fall at the remark. "Why don't we look around outside and let Will do her magick woo sense thing in here."

Willow smiled a little sadly and nodded as her friends left her in the living room of the house where Tara had grown up. It looked like no one had been here since her father had died a week ago. At least no one other than whoever had come through and stolen anything of value. Unlike the targeted approach in Tara's apartment, this looked like common vandals. The TV and other electronics were missing while photos and papers were ignored.

Willow had indicated to the others during the drive up that she might be able to pick up a magickal trace if Tara had been in the house recently. She opened her senses, allowing a controlled stream of power to reach out into the house seeking Tara's essence. It was not difficult for Willow to summon; she could call everything about Tara to mind with a thought. Since they had shared magick briefly, she had a signature to work with on that level as well.

The trace carried her from the living room to an upstairs bedroom. When she opened the door she found the room undisturbed. In fact it appeared she was the first person to enter the space in years. A thick layer of dust covered the twin bed, dresser and small desk, the only furniture in the room. The walls were bare except for a large cross.

Willow let her magick fill the space and tried to imagine a carefree young Tara sleeping in the bed and studying at the desk. But her senses were filled with fear and sadness that echoed from the past. Willow stumbled to the window and opened it quickly as if to dispel the negative energy of the space along with the dust.

She looked out and could see the dark shapes of trees with low lying hills behind. 'I bet this place is pretty in the daylight.' Willow thought. "Oh Tara, what happened to you? Where are you?" This time she spoke out the window to the night air.

When no answer was forthcoming and she was just about to conclude the trip had been a complete waste of time that Anya would never let her live down, movement down below by the barn caught her eye. Leaning further out she could see Buffy, Xander and Anya approaching the barn doors on the other end.

The Slayer had just started to yank the barn doors open when she heard Willow. "Buffy watch out!"

She had time to step back and release the catch on the short sword she had strapped to her back before the first vampire leapt on her. Buffy landed on her back in surprise, she hadn't been knocked down by a vampire in several years. Luckily Xander was nearby and the demon flew off to her side with a hard kick to the ribs.

Buffy was able to draw her sword and Xander turned to help Anya when she called his name. "Get over here Xander. The Slayer can handle herself!"

Buffy laughed, but as she slid her sword through the vamps neck she thought Anya was right. Another vampire appeared from the dark recesses of the barn and was quickly dispatched when his head left his body as well.

When no more emerged from the barn, Buffy looked over to find Xander staking the last vamp as Anya yelled at it for ruining her jacket. It was over so fast that when Willow ran up to them, red sparks dancing on her fingertips, there was nothing left for her to do. "All gone?"

Xander scanned around the yard and shrugged. "Looks that way."

"Then can I ask, what the hell? Why are there vampires in the Maclay barn?" Willow still hadn't grounded her magick and the red sparks glittered up into the air.

Buffy had no answer. "How about we check out the inside of the barn. Can you give us some light Will?"

"Sure. Good idea." Willow turned toward the barn and took a deep breath. The red sparks became a round ball of light, about the size of a basketball, giving off a soft glow. The witch release the orb and it moved into the barn illuminating every corner of the space.

All four of the Scoobies heard the yelp from inside. Buffy took point and moved into the middle of the barn with the others following. She circled slowly, her sword in front of her.

Willow pushed more power into the orb making the light brighter and brighter.

"Stop, make it stop!" The vampire came crawling out from behind a stack of hay, his arm over his eyes.

Willow looked over to Buffy who stood over the vampire with her sword ready and then nodded at the witch.

As Willow lowered the light level Buffy pushed the vampire to the ground face down. "What are you doing here?"

The vampire tried to rise, but the Slayer held him with her boot in his back. "We were just supposed to keep an eye on the place until tomorrow! He didn't tell us a Slayer would be here."

"Who is he? Someone paying you to be here?" Buffy pressed the tip of her sword into the back of the vampire's neck as incentive.

"I don't know his name. No one does. But he works for someone big. He gave us the cows to eat. We just came back here when we were done feeding. That's all I know, really!"

Willow stepped closer. "Where is Tara Maclay?"

"I don't know who that is, I swear!" The vampire was squirming beneath the sword.

"Wrong answer." The Slayer pushed the sword into the undead skin until it oozed black liquid.

The vampire screamed, "Wait! I saw the boss, with some other vamps. They took a jeep and headed out toward the orchards last night and then came back later. I think something is going on out there."

Buffy looked up at Willow who nodded. "Thanks." The vamp relaxed as the sword was withdrawn from his neck. The relief was only momentary as the sword slashed back down turning him to dust.

They decided to leave Anya with the car and cell phone to call Giles in Cleveland and let him know what was going on. The presence of the vampires had just turned this into a Council investigation. As she trudged through the fields and orchards behind Xander and Buffy, Willow tried to come up with any logical explanation for the demons' involvement in Tara's disappearance.

If this was about PAI just wanting the land and being willing to commit murder to get it there were plenty of humans who would take blood money. The giant influential corporation having demons on the payroll was way more concerning.

Hours of trudging through fields and orchards yielded nothing but muddy boots and painful scratches on their arms and faces. The trio had reached the back of the orchard and Willow could sense dawn approaching over the low hills before them.

"I'm all about suggestions at this point." Buffy didn't want to sound discouraging, but she just didn't see where to go from here.

Willow understood. She didn't know what to do either. The difference was she knew something was going on, she could almost feel it. Something just out of reach, trying to communicate with her. She growled in frustration receiving sympathetic looks from her friends.

The eyes of the witch rose to the top of the hills before them as the first pale change found the night sky. She watched color start to touch the hilltops and slipped her hands into her pockets in contemplation.

Her fingers found Tara's doll's eye crystal and wrapped around it. She hadn't meant to take it from the apartment, but was glad she had done so now. She could feel the other witch. It wasn't strong, but it was there and she knew how to find her.

"She's close." Willow informed her friends as she lifted her palm to show them the crystal. "I can find her with this."

The witch stepped out into the clearing under the breaking dawn and settled herself on the ground. After a brief meditation she held out the doll's eye. "Fiat lux. Reperio."

A small orb of blue white light emerged from the crystal and bobbed before Willow for a moment before racing off towards the hills.

* * *

Tara heard footsteps in the hall, several people from the sound of it. She sighed and dropped her forehead onto her knees, holding her legs in a tuck. She closed her eyes tightly, just wanting a moment before facing her fate. It seemed early, the cloaked man must be anxious to be done with her.

Tara's head shot up when she heard shouting. The sight that greeted her was one she had never imagined. Buffy had run into the cave and stood facing the four vampire guards with a sword held over her left shoulder, poised to strike. The vampires had been the source of the shouting; the Slayer simply held their gaze with a confident determination.

Before the vampires could rush forward there was a second whirl of activity at the entrance to the cave as Willow spun into the space. Their eyes met for an instant before Willow turned back to the vampires, her face a mask of fury. Xander appeared last, catching his breath, leaning on the handle of a huge double headed axe.

Seeing their odds worsening by the moment the vampires attacked. Thinking the unarmed Willow looked the most vulnerable two of the vamps ran towards her while the other two spilt between Xander and Buffy.

Looking back Tara couldn't have said which demon lasted the longest they were dispatched so quickly. Buffy swung her sword once. Xander hefted his axe and it rang down a single time. Willow held up both hands palms out and a stream of red blazed into each of the vampires attacking her. They immolated so quickly Tara didn't even see them burning.

In seconds the three Scoobies were alone facing four small piles of ash. Buffy was the first to recover. She slowly scanned the space for any additional threats and then she grabbed Xander to guard the door as she left to examine the passageway.

Willow ran to Tara so fast she didn't even have time to stand. She dropped to her knees and paused for less than a second before wrapping her arms around the stunned woman and hugging her fiercely.

"Tara. Oh Goddess are you all right? Are you hurt? What have they done to you? Can you stand?"

Tara didn't know how to interrupt the stream of questions and she wasn't sure she wanted to. She clasped her hands around Willow's neck and returned her embrace. When Willow seemed to run out of steam and slump into her Tara sat back and let Willow follow her until they were resting against the cave wall.

"You found me." Tara was astounded that Willow had done Goddess knows what to find her and then had fought through demons to rescue her.

Willow looked up into Tara's eyes. "I'll always find you."

"How?" Tara choked out, losing her voice to the emotion of the moment.

Willow smiled and took the doll's eye from her pocket. "I hope you don't mind, I borrowed this." She held up the crystal and the small blue light floated down from the ceiling of the cave before returning to the crystal.

Buffy returned from her scouting and walked over to the two women at the back of the cave. "It's good to see you Tara, you Ok? We really should get out of here."

Tara nodded and stood up with Willow's help. She looked down at her clothes and thought how bad she must look, and probably smell. "Sorry. I'm not at my best."

Willow put one arm around Tara's waist and used her other hand to turn Tara's chin toward her. "You look beautiful. I was so worried, I can't tell you. And don't think I can't see that huge bruise on your face. I hope whoever did that is one of those piles of ash."

Tara shook her head.

"Well they will be. Let's head out." Buffy was in full General mode as she moved towards the entrance. "Xander, bring up the rear."

The four moved as quickly as they could with Willow holding and helping Tara along the way. Now that they were back in the passageway, Tara knew the best way out and directed them at each junction. They emerged into the early morning light and began to walk across the clearing towards the orchard.

Tara looked over at Willow, getting her first good view in the light of day. "Willow!" She called out suddenly shocked by what she saw. "Your hair!"

"Huh?" Willow wasn't sure what was wrong.

Buffy came over and took a close look at her best friend with a concerned look. "Umm, Will, your roots are a little dark, like black dark."

"Oh." That hadn't happened in forever. Since Sunnydale. Since that night in the woods. Of course that night it hadn't been just the roots, or even just her hair. "Sorry. I guess I got a little angry back there." Willow could see all three of them looking at her almost fearfully. "I'm Ok now, really. Can we just go?"

They began to move through the orchards, Tara holding Willow's hand. "So I'm guessing that you don't dye your hair red and just need your roots done."

"No." Willow knew this would be difficult conversation, but now wasn't the time. "Can I explain later? After you are home safe and sound? I'm not trying to be all avoidy, but my stuff can wait. We need to know what happened with you first, Ok?"

"I wouldn't argue with a long hot bath and some clean clothes." Tara was feeling even more grimy now in the daylight. "Whatever you want to tell me is fine." She bumped Willow in the hip and grinned. "Besides who am I to question my knight in shining armor."

Willow puffed out her chest and tried to swagger, but just ended up laughing and then turned serious. "No secrets, I promise."

Buffy stopped up ahead of the others and held up her hand. She cocked her head to the side as if straining to hear something. The Slayer ran forward to the edge of the orchard and looked out in the direction of the farmhouse.

Screeching across the fields was the car they had brought from San Francisco with Anya behind the wheel. Not only was the car not made for traveling across uneven rows of crops, it was certainly not meant to be doing so at top speed. Anya herself was leaning half out of the open driver's side window yelling at the top of her lungs for Xander.

Anya's driving in the city was almost the stuff of legend. Unlike Buffy, she insisted on driving and had been in several fender-benders which she always insisted were the other driver's fault. Somehow her style of driving seemed to be beneficial under the current circumstances. She was weaving and careening wildly as she approached the orchard in an effort to avoid the jeep following her.

The jeep had a driver and passenger in front and a single person in the backseat who seemed to be sitting calmly. What had Anya really angry was the gun the guy in the passenger seat was firing at her.

Buffy hated guns. There just wasn't much she could do about gun-toting humans. Willow, Tara and Xander reached her about the same time Anya came crashing through a small almond tree in front of them.

Xander jumped at the car and waved Anya over into the passenger seat as the other three women climbed into the back seat. Before the door was closed Xander had gunned the engine and was trying to find a way out through the lines of trees. They all flew around the compartment as the car bounced along the uneven ground.

The jeep quickly caught up with them in the confined area. "I was going much faster than this Xander. They are trying to kill us!" Anya pointed as the jeep came up alongside the car.

"I got this." Willow called out from the backseat. The witch held out her hand and began to chant. As she continued the air around both vehicles began to swirl and then began to focus on the jeep.

Suddenly Willow cried out as the swirling air moved back towards the car as if being pushed by an unseen force. "That's not possible.' She gasped.

With an audible grunt of effort, Willow pushed the miniature storm back towards the jeep until it was surrounded by a maelstrom of dirt, leaves and branches. The driver lost control and veered into a tree, striking hard.

As she slumped back, Willow saw the worried look on Tara's face again. "More roots. And your eyes too."

"Sorry. I had to do something." Willow looked down afraid of Tara's reaction. She had been shocked at the dark power that had tried to hijack her spell. It had been so strong and vaguely familiar.

Tara took her hand and squeezed it tightly. "I know. We can handle this."

Willow's smile was filled with relief and her eyes shone green again.

"We should circle back, see if we need to call for help for those guys." Sometimes Buffy hated always being the good guy.

Xander nodded and turned the car around slowly. As they came up to the jeep they could see the driver standing next to the wrecked jeep and the passenger sitting up but holding his arm, which looked broken.

"We'll call for an ambulance when we get to the road." Buffy announced as they drove on toward the farmhouse.

Tara's eyes were fixed on the person in the back seat. She recognized the deep hood and dark cloak. The man turned toward the car and his hood slipped back from his face for just an instant. In that moment Tara saw his hideously disfigured face and took in the pure hatred pouring from his eyes as he looked into the back seat of the car. But it was the word on his lips that made Tara shiver. The cloaked man had mouthed "Rosenberg".


	11. Chapter 11-The Eye of the Hurricane

AN-Sorry for the lack of midweek update last week-life, you know. By my estimate we are about half way through the story. Comments, concerns, thoughts in general? I'd love to hear them.

* * *

Chapter Eleven-The Eye of the Hurricane

The ride back to the city was quiet. Tara had fallen asleep with her head and arms draped over Willow's lap almost immediately and the Scoobies were all too tired to even chat. Xander had stopped for a large coffee and they had made good time back to the firehouse before the morning rush hour took hold.

Willow hated to disturb the bruised and exhausted woman. "Tara. Tara baby. You need to wake up. Just enough to get upstairs and get you settled somewhere."

Sleepy eyes did their best to open. "But I'm at the firehouse. I should go home." Tara suddenly felt guilty and didn't want to impose anymore.

Willow opened her mouth to begin her protest but didn't get the chance to start.

"No." Buffy stated firmly. "We need you here, where we can protect you. And we need to know what happened." When she saw Willow's raised eyebrows she added, "When you are up to it, of course."

"Let's get you a nice hot bath and some clean clothes first." Willow began to steer Tara up the stairs before she looked back over her shoulder at her friends. "Thank you guys. Let's get a few hours of sleep and reconvene for lunch."

Tara was only in the bath for a few minutes when she reemerged in the clean clothes Willow had given her.

"I didn't expect you so soon. Are you sure you don't want to just relax?" Willow found herself fussing around Tara, not quite sure what to do.

"I'm fine Willow, thank you." Tara yawned uncontrollably.

Willow took her hand and led her down the hall and into a small guest bedroom. "I put some clean sheets on the bed in here. Rest, sleep. I know you must be exhausted."

"I am tired Willow, but we need to talk. I have to tell you what happened." Another huge yawn interrupted Tara's speech.

Willow sat Tara down on the bed and tucked her legs under the comforter. "Later, that can wait a few hours." Once she had Tara settled Willow headed for the door.

"Willow?" Tara's eyes were already closing. "Stay with me, please?"

It took Willow only seconds to step out of her shoes and slide into the bed next to Tara. She stroked her hand gently through blonde hair. "Of course I'll stay, you never need to ask."

Tara felt herself relaxing immediately into the soft touch. "I was scared. I've never been so frightened. Thinking about you was the only thing that kept me sane." A few stray tears worked their way down her cheeks.

"Shhhh. Go to sleep. You're safe here. I promise." Willow murmured over and over until she felt Tara's breathing even out. She looked down in wonder at the peaceful beauty she was holding. All her life, her training, fighting, stopping apocalypse after apocalypse, focusing her magick. Now she knew why she had gone through everything. She needed to be prepared to protect this woman. It was what she was meant to do, if Tara would let her.

Willow found herself relaxed and calm. She scooted down into the bed a little until Tara's head was resting on her shoulder and she fell asleep with a smile.

* * *

When Willow awoke alone she jumped up and ran down the hall to find Tara and Buffy eating snacks while Tara told the Slayer about her kidnapping and captivity. Tara looked up with a shy smile. "Willow."

"Are you giving Buffy all the good info without me?" Willow pouted and grabbed a handful of chips as she sat down.

"Only the boring parts." Tara shifted over closer to Willow. "Which is most of the story except for the beginning and the end."

Xander and Anya joined them for lunch after which Tara filled in the group on what had happened, everything from the pacified workers at the farm to her run into the hills and subsequent imprisonment with the vampire guards. She described her interactions with the cloaked man in as much detail as she could recall, but found herself leaving out the fact that the man knew Willow. She thought the other witch should hear that fact first.

"I'm worried about this creepy guy who was in charge. Any human who can get vampires to be his minions concerns me." Buffy threw out. "Any idea about who he is Tara?"

"No, not really." Tara gave a glance towards Willow. "I think he can do magick."

Now it was Willow's turn. "He can. He pushed back against my spell in the orchard, hard. With dark magick."

"Well duh. We saw the hair and the eyes." Anya rolled her own. "Glad to see that is all gone by the way. Quick work of the de-black-rooting."

Willow hadn't even realized her hair was back to normal. She usually had to actively center herself to dispel the dark magick effects. It must have happened naturally when she was resting with Tara. "Huh. Thanks, I guess."

Everyone in the group was pondering the information Tara had given them and thinking about what to do next. The silence made Tara nervous. "Willow, maybe you could take me back to my apartment now. You guys have been great, but I should get home and see the damage."

Tara was assaulted by multiple voices arguing with her at once. Buffy's won out. "Tara I meant it when I said you need to be here for us to protect you. Your apartment isn't safe."

"I can't just live here, at the firehouse! This is your home. I'll reinstate the wards on my place, I'll be fine." Tara found her resolve fading fast but tried to sound confident.

"Tara, you were targeted. Your place was broken into by demons. Whoever the evil warlock guy is he is going to be irate that you got away. Consider yourself a firehouse resident for now, I insist." Buffy stood with her hands on her hips and with her sternest Slayer look.

"You should listen to her. You're more than welcome here Tara." Xander.

"I could still use your help at the store if you promise not to get kidnapped again." Anya pitched in.

Willow sat and listened to Tara try her best to disagree with everyone. Maybe she had read the situation wrong. She had assumed Tara still wanted to be with her as her girlfriend, and that it was only the kidnapping that had interfered. But the way she was almost desperate to return to her trashed and dangerous apartment, maybe she wanted to be alone. Maybe Willow's display of dark magick had caused her to reconsider.

The voices were too much in her head. Willow didn't even realize her feet had carried her out of the common room and into her adjacent bedroom until she sat down on the edge of her bed, her hands in her lap. Her emotions were in flux again and tears were filling her eyes.

"Where did Will go? Willow?" She heard Buffy calling for her a few minutes later, but she just couldn't face them right now.

Willow heard Buffy mumbling and then saw Tara standing in her doorway. "Can I come in?"

Willow nodded without looking up. She didn't want Tara to see her upset.

"May I sit?" Tara patted the quilt next to Willow on the bed.

"I guess we should have talked first, before everyone else got involved." Willow decided it would be best to just yank off the band aid quickly. "I should never have assumed you would want to stick around. I mean you have your own life and everything. We would have gotten you out of that horrible cave no matter what, because that's what we do, you know, help people. You are certainly someone I want to help no matter what. We just thought you should probably stay, in one of the spare rooms of course, until we know you are safe. But you can go if you want to, you know, get away. From us, from me."

With that Willow's lung capacity maxed out and one traitorous tear leaked out and fell onto the hands folded in her lap with a plop.

Tara knew as soon as Willow started to speak that she had made a mess of things again. Willow's voice was high and strained from emotion. She was having trouble following the speech, but there was no disguising the last bit. Willow thought she wanted to get away from her, which was the furthest thing from the truth.

Tara had never been offered something so freely. A place to live? Where she could be safe and around people who cared? Her instincts had immediately flared again, to run and hide, assuming there was a hidden catch. No one just gave you a place to stay without expectation.

But she had told herself while being held captive that she was going to move past those imprinted childhood thoughts and behaviors, and now was a chance to show it. She took Willow in her arms and hugged her. Goddess that alone felt so good. "Will? Do something for me?"

She felt Willow nod against her shoulder. "Anything. What do you need?"

"Take me to my apartment. Right now." Tara squeezed tighter. She could feel the other woman tense and then sigh.

"Ok." Willow started to pull away to get to her feet before she let out a sob, but Tara didn't let go.

"Take me now so I can pack a few things and get back here before it gets dark. I want to move everything I care about by tonight."

"Really, you mean it?" Green eyes lifted up for the first time since they had started talking.

Tara nodded. "I'm so sorry. It's such a generous offer to let me stay here. You should know I have issues accepting kindness from others, but I should have trusted that you were only trying to help me. Goddess Willow, look at what you have done for me, you saved my life! And I repay you by making you think I want to get away from you."

Tara lifted her fingers to Willow's chin and moved her face up until she could reach her lips for a lingering kiss. "I want to be where you are Willow, nowhere else."

Buffy and Xander insisted on going along to provide 'muscle', which made the move that much faster and safer. Tara gathered her clothes and a few boxes of personal items, saddened to see most of her magick books gone. As she locked up for the last time, she looked over at the main house. "I should tell Mrs. Darby where I'll be, she might worry."

The Scoobies exchanged glances before Willow took Tara's hand and led her towards the car. "I need to tell you some things, including about Mrs. Darby. Let's head back first, it's getting dark. Xan, will you drive?"

Tara paused before getting into the back seat next to Willow and examined the house more closely. The grass was long in the yard and curtains covered all of the dark windows. It looked like no one had been there for a while. "She's dead, isn't she?"

Willow had gotten in already and reached out to draw Tara into the back seat before answering. "Yes baby, she is. I'm so sorry."

Tara's mind was whirling again. "It's overwhelming. My brother in jail. My father is dead. Sarah is dead, Javier is gone. Now Mrs. Darby? What is going on Willow? How can this all be happening?"

Willow felt that need to protect Tara come over her again as they tucked together in the back seat. "I don't know yet, but I promise, we will find out and those who are responsible will pay."

* * *

It didn't take long to get Tara's things stored away in 'her' guest room. Both Willow and Buffy had assured her that she was welcome to stay as long as she wanted. They explained that other Slayers sometimes came through town on various missions and stayed in one of the rooms, but there were several so space was not a problem.

Anya had ordered takeout so they all sat down to eat. The combination of food and the additional emotional news of the day had Tara falling asleep at the table.

"I guess I need to head to bed before I end up face down in the kung pao." Tara joked. "Thank you again, for everything. I never knew people could be so kind and I'm so glad you came into my life. I'll try to make it up to you somehow."

Xander smiled and blushed while Buffy tried to wave Tara off slightly embarrassed.

"I could use some help tomorrow at the shop." Anya proposed before plopping a spring roll in her mouth.

Willow jumped up. "Tara needs a few days of rest Anya. She's been through a lot."

"Oh fine, don't get all defensive there little butch." Anya rolled her eyes.

Willow just scowled at the ex-demon before pulling Tara away. She waited in the guest room while Tara got ready in the bathroom. When Tara got back she pulled off her robe and left it on the end of the bed.

Tara was in a cream silk nightgown that reached her mid-thigh. Willow couldn't breathe as she approached. "Wow, Tara, you look beautiful."

"It's just to sleep in Will." Tara bashfully slipped under the sheet. "But thank you for the sentiment."

"I know you're tired, but can I kiss you goodnight?" Willow moved up until she was sitting next to Tara.

Tara reached up and touched her lips to Willow's. "You don't have to ask."

Willow found her mouth didn't want to leave Tara's and she followed her back as Tara lay her head down on the pillow, still kissing and now half on top of the blonde. Her pert breasts crushed down into Tara's soft chest and she moaned from the back of her throat.

Tara's arms lifted and wrapped around Willow's back as the kiss deepened. She felt her nipples harden under the thin layer of silk and she pulled Willow closer until no space remained between them. But when she felt Willow start to move her body to lie completely on top of her, she knew this was not the night to make love for the first time. They were both too tired and emotional and she wanted to give Willow everything she deserved. "Willow. We need to stop sweetie."

Willow knew Tara was right, but her arousal was raging for this amazingly sexy woman and it took her a minute to register what Tara had said completely. She buried her lips into Tara's neck and tasted her skin with light kisses as she allowed the rest of her body to cool down. "I know, but I don't want to." She finally mumbled with her lips still on Tara's pulse point.

Following several false starts resulting in more kissing Willow finally disengaged from every part of Tara but one entwined hand. She stood by the bed and walked backwards until only their fingertips were touching. "Goodnight Tara."

It seemed natural to follow with 'I love you,' but neither she nor Tara had said those word yet and now didn't seem to be the time. Willow did her best to convey the sentiment with her eyes and her smile before she took one more step and they were no longer in reach of each other. She turned and slipped out of the room and down the hall to her own bed where she was asleep in moments knowing Tara was safe.

Tara fell asleep feeling more protected than she ever had in her life. She knew the firehouse was warded and she had a powerful witch and slayer sleeping down the hall. Unfortunately, none of those facts could overcome the panic she felt waking up from a nightmare shaking and crying.

In her dream the cloaked man had held her in the orchard, tied between two trees with vines. His eyes were more than black, they were filled with darkness as he taunted her. "You're going to die tonight."

"Why? What'd I ever do to you?" Tara didn't understand what was happening. The face of the cloaked man got closer and closer until all she could see was the depths of the hatred in his eyes. It was like looking into the fires of hell itself. A flash of pain covered every inch of her body as he spoke again.

"Bored now."

"Willow." Tara tried to wake up the redhead gently, but found she was just too deeply asleep. Faced with the options of returning to her own room to shiver and stare at the walls or slipping in beside her girlfriend and hoping she wouldn't mind Tara chose the latter. She was still trembling slightly from the fear that soaked into her bones when she closed her eyes and saw images from her nightmare.

Tara tried to comfort herself by looking at Willow in the dim moonlight. She was wearing a t-shirt and pajama bottoms covered in coffee cups. Tara settled down as much as she could without disturbing Willow's sleeping space, but as soon as she fully relaxed she found a warm, lithe body turn and tuck tightly against her and an arm flung protectively over her waist.

Concern that she had woken Willow was short lived when she heard quiet muttering. "No frogs on the history test."

Tara couldn't help but giggle and relax. Willow felt so good against her. Explaining the nightmare could wait until morning.


	12. Chapter 12-Wiccans in Love

Chapter Twelve-Wiccans in Love

Warm. So warm and soft. Willow had never had such a nice dream. She curled her arm and found it tightening around a curvy waist that was also so, well soft. She nuzzled more into her pillow, hoping to prolong the gifts of the slumber. Her pillow was nice, as well as soft. It was also moving, ever so slightly up and down, in a rhythmic pattern.

Willow didn't remember her pillow having the ability to move before. Maybe an even closer inspection would uncover the basis for this new mobility. Nestling her cheek tightly against the cloth surface now resulted in a sound, somewhere between a sigh and a moan. This was one great pillow.

Additional consciousness inevitably took hold and with it the opening of eyes. Vision which demonstrated her lips were pressed against the silk covering Tara's ample breast. Willow flinched but overcame the instinct to pull away when she felt strong arms around her back. If Tara wanted her this close who was she to complain?

How did she end up here anyway? Turning her head, Willow saw that she was in her room, in her bed, and Tara was here. Sometime between saying goodnight and waking this morning, Tara must have gotten in her bed without waking her up. Had something happened? Something that frightened her?

That made Willow tense which caused Tara to tighten her grip and begin to wake up. Willow didn't want the first thing Tara saw to be her girlfriend fondling her breast with her face. She lifted up onto one elbow where she could appreciate Tara's facial features as she awakened without moving too much.

Tara's eyes squinted once and her lips puckered adorably before the first glimpse of blue shone out and a half-smile appeared. "Good morning."

"To what do I owe the immense pleasure of finding you in my bed?" Willow watched a wash of red flow up from Tara's chest to her cheeks.

"Nightmare. I hope you don't mind." Tara pulled up the sheet that had fallen to her waist feeling a little exposed.

Deciding actions spoke louder than words Willow leaned over and brushed her lips against Tara's. "Do I look like I mind?"

Tara pulled Willow closer and kissed her fully. "You actually look pretty pleased."

"I am. This is the best surprise wake up I've ever had." Willow ran her fingertips from Tara's neck down to her collarbone and then traced down her arm, watching goose bumps rise up as Tara shivered. "Not to ruin the moment, but do you want to tell me about your nightmare?"

Tara sighed. "I need to tell you about a few things including the nightmare."

Both women jumped as the door flew open and the slayer raced into the room. "Tara's gone. She's not in her room . . . because she's in here, in Will's room, in bed with Willow." Buffy's hand flew to cover her eyes as she backed away. "I am so sorry guys, I'll be leaving now."

"I guess that means we should get up." Willow smiled and then noticed her alarm clock. "Wow, it is almost noon, we must have been tired. I guess brunch is in order?"

"If you've got the supplies, I could make pancakes." Tara wanted to help out where she could and from what she had seen take-out food was the predominate dietary intake of the group.

"Like from scratch? I've never had those." Willow helped Tara up and couldn't keep her hands from running down the silk covering Tara's back.

"Really?" Tara laughed thinking back to making pancakes with her mom even as a small child. "Then I'll go get dressed and see you in the kitchen."

* * *

"Tara. I think I love you."

"Buffy, I don't feel that is an appropriate thing to say to my girlfriend."

"Step up Will. Did you see what she just did for me? Nobody has ever done that for me."

"It's food Buffy. Granted it's amazing, delicious, gourmet pancakes, bacon and eggs."

"Willow. You know how my slayer metabolism feels about sustenance. I've suddenly developed a deep emotional connection to the woman who can make all of that with our kitchen."

"Don't get any ideas. Tara's not here just to cook mass slayer quantities."

"You both know I'm right here." Tara smiled at the other two women. "Not that I don't appreciate the praise and the, uh, Buffy love. No one has ever shown quite so much delight in my cooking."

"I'm just trying to watch out for you Tara. You have no idea what Buffy is capable of, or any slayer for that matter. You would think the new council would go broke just from the grocery bill." Willow laughed as Buffy pouted. "Slayer, you're on clean up duty. Tara and I have some research to do."

Buffy started gathering plates from the table. "Right, research. Wouldn't want to interrupt another research session like I did this morning."

"Research in my office." Willow rolled her eyes at Buffy and took Tara's hand as they started downstairs. When they got there she started up her computer and used her backdoor access to log into the medical examiner database program. She set up the parameters to search all of James Pierce's cases for the last six months.

"That's going to take a while to run." Willow sat down on the love seat next to Tara. "Why don't you tell me about your dream."

Tara knew now was the time to address her concerns. "Well, it's more than just my nightmare, although he was in that too."

"He? The guy from the orchard?" Somehow just thinking about her brief encounter left Willow with a sick feeling inside.

Tara nodded. "He knows you. After they ransacked my apartment he brought the book you loaned me to the cave. It had your name on the inside of the cover, you know 'property of Willow Rosenberg'. Well, he asked if I knew you and I told him I didn't, that I had bought the book at a shop. Then, in the orchard, I saw his face for just a second as we were driving away."

Tara stood up and walked over to the desk, fidgeting with a Velma bobble head Willow had among her knick knacks. "He saw you and said your name again, just Rosenberg, but I saw the hatred he had for you in that one word. And his face, it was deformed, disfigured somehow."

Steeling herself she looked back at Willow. "Do you know who he is?"

Willow slumped back into the loveseat, her forehead creased in concentration. "I don't know. I've made a lot of humans and demons angry over the years, but the connections here don't make sense. This guy uses dark magick and hates me and yet he kidnaps you to sign over the farm to PAI. He didn't even know we knew each other for sure until the orchard."

Willow waved Tara to come back to the loveseat. "What about the dream? How is it related?"

Tara could see Willow was honestly confused and as much as she wanted complete understanding of what was going on, she was somehow glad that Willow didn't know the cloaked man. "I am in the orchard, but the trees are dense around me and it is dark. He has me bound, with vines, between two of the trees. He says I'm going to die and I ask him what I've done to him."

Willow tensed so suddenly Tara stopped talking. The look on her face had transformed from confused to disbelief. "Then he reached out and I felt a horrible pain, everywhere, and all I can see are dark black eyes and he says, 'bored now.'"

Willow's expression had melted into terror and she was silently shaking her head in small back and forth movements. Tara reached out to take her hand but Willow leapt to her feet and ran over to her laptop.

"What does it mean?" Tara could plainly see the nightmare meant something to the other witch.

"It can't be, it's not possible. He's . . . gone." Willow was furiously typing something on her keyboard.

"Who's gone?" Tara walked over until she was behind Willow and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I can see this has you scared, and that frightens me too. Who is he?"

Willow turned her chair until she was facing Tara and hugged around her waist, burying her face in the other woman's shirt for a moment. When she looked up her expression was more composed. "I don't know for sure. I promise I'll tell you when I figure it out, but I need to do some research. I also need to check on James Pierce's cases and see how they are related to all of this. Can you give me a couple hours? We could go get some dinner later."

Tara gazed down at Willow's arms still encircled her waist. "No secrets, right?"

"No secrets." Willow responded automatically.

Tara pulled away but kept her eyes firmly engaged with Willow's. "Fine. I have some errands to run." Before Willow could start protesting Tara held up her hand. "I need Buffy's help with some things anyway, I'll ask her to go with me if she is available."

The slayer was in the common area with her feet up on an ottoman. "Thanks again for the great meal. Not that I expect it or anything, but it was nice. We try to take care of each other, but cooking was never a priority. Can I help you with something?"

Tara smiled. "I hope so."

* * *

The archaic computer system was still processing Willow's request for information on James Pierce's cases, so she turned her search to a name she never wanted to think about. A name that she had no business typing into her search engine as if he was a long lost classmate from high school that she wanted to catch up with for drinks.

It was just a precaution really, to do a general search. Any matches would likely represent a different man of the same name, perhaps a father or cousin. For this man to exist in any form walking the earth would evidence major use of dark power. She knew only the darkest magicks could have brought him to this time and place, because they had once been her magicks.

As the letters spelled out a shudder passed down her neck. W-a-r-r-e-n M-e-a-r-s. At least it was an unusual name. Willow had linked several databases for tracking individuals including social media, the DMV, credit agencies and the IRS. She had also found linking dating and relationship services very helpful on past searches, although from what Tara had said about his appearance she doubted Warren would be using a current photo in his portfolio.

Now Willow found herself waiting on two searches which slowed down even her powerful system. If Warren was somehow involved, it raised so many issues regarding her past, her magick and the one secret she thought was permanently entombed in only her memory.

The search on James Pierce came up first. Willow scanned through the cases and quickly identified several that were out of the ordinary. James had done very few complicated cases in the last six months and only one decomposed person, Mrs. Darby. She reset the search to run the cases she plucked as out of his normal parameters for any connection to PAI including employment.

The search on Warren revealed nothing. Willow wondered why that didn't seem to ease her mind. The specificity of Tara's dream was dumbfounding. She didn't think it was possible for Tara to have somehow accidentally mined the information from her memories which means it came from some other source. She had to consider the real possibility that Warren in some form, corporeal or non-corporeal, was involved again in her life and now was threatening Tara.

After several hours of mental analysis that achieved little the door to her office opened and Buffy stepped inside. "Ms. Rosenberg, I have been instructed to fetch you and accompany you to your room where you will shower and change for dinner. My directive is non-negotiable, so if you will come with me?"

Buffy marched Willow upstairs and shooed her into the bathroom telling her to be quick. She selected a pair of snug jeans and a warm sweater in red that she thought would make Willow's eyes stand out and refused to provide any further information regarding the evening until Willow emerged into the common area dressed and ready to go.

"Follow me." Buffy only smiled as her best friend pouted and cajoled her for information. "You'll find out sooner without all the questioning."

Willow was confused when instead of leaving the firehouse Buffy led her to the back landing of the building and started up the fire escape stairs. They climbed the stairs to the top level and Buffy knocked politely on the door.

"You do know this is the roof. Last time I checked nobody lives up here Buffy." Willow was starting to get exasperated with Buffy's obstinate grin.

When the door opened, Willow gasped. The roof had been transformed. Fairy lights draped the railings and huge candles lit the center of the space. A bistro table and two chairs were set with more candles and two covered plates. A champagne bucket sat to the side with a bottle chilling and two glasses sat on the table already filled and bubbling.

Willow was in awe of the roof until she saw Tara and then her jaw dropped. Her blonde hair was held up loosely and her dress had a low set snug bodice. The result was acre of creamy flawless skin from Tara's neck, across her shoulders and down to the tops of her breasts and well-demonstrated cleavage.

Buffy's smile grew even wider when she saw Willow's reaction. "Anything else I can do for you ladies?" When she received no response from either woman she laughed realizing they were completely lost to each other. "Have a wonderful evening."

When the door shut behind her Willow was startled out of her trance. "Tara, this is amazing. You look amazing." She stepped over to the blonde and found herself suddenly shy. "No one has ever done anything like this for me before. Thank you."

Tara could sense the emotion building behind Willow's quiet exterior and kissed her lightly. "I was so sorry I missed our dinner date, being kidnapped and all." Tara gave Willow her quirky half-smile before getting serious again. "I thought we could try again here. Buffy called your friend and she made us your favorites."

"Well then we should eat." Willow took Tara's hand and led her to the table before handing her one of the champagne glasses. "To the kindest, most thoughtful and definitely the most gorgeous woman I have ever had the fortune to have in my life."

They ate, interspersed with touches and kisses, sitting side by side. After finishing Willow took Tara to the front railing of the building and they watched the activity three stories down on the street. After a few minutes Willow turned to face Tara as she people watched. "Keith Pierce is definitely involved in this. I'm still figuring out the details. But I'm more concerned about the man from the orchard and your dream."

Tara turned around and leaned back against the rail and took Willow in a loose embrace, her hands at her waist. "You don't have to tell me right now if you don't want."

Willow shook her head. "I won't spoil our evening I promise. But I need you to know I went through a rough time with my magick back in Sunnydale. About a year before our final apocalypse I had gotten heavily involved in dark magick and I did some things I'm ashamed of, really bad things. I'm worried because your dream reminds me of something that happened, that I never told anyone about, not even Buffy and Xander. I need to tell you and them, although it's going to be hard. Maybe we can all talk tomorrow?"

Tara felt Willow sagging into her as she spoke. "That sounds fine. Tomorrow." She kissed the redhead on the forehead. "Tonight, dance with me?" Tara tugged Willow back towards the table and started some music which drifted out of speakers into the cooling evening air.

"As long as it's a slow dance." Willow smiled and snuggled close, wrapping her arms around Tara's waist. "You cold?"

"Not now." Tara's arms found their way onto Willow's shoulders and the two women slowly circled around the roof, the fairy lights twinkling in the candle light. As the songs passed, their bodies pressed together more tightly, until they were simply standing and swaying.

Willow reached up to sweep back a stray piece of hair from Tara's face and her hand stayed, tracing the defined cheekbones and jawline before tracing over Tara's full lips with the lightest touch of her fingertips. She followed with her lips but resisted Tara's attempt to deepen the kiss. Instead she leaned back just enough to focus on clear blue eyes.

Tara suddenly found it hard to breathe. Willow's deep emerald eyes were gazing at her with an intensity she had never experienced. In the wide expanse of emotion they displayed she could see passion, protectiveness and . . ."

"Tara, I love you."

Tara felt a warmth bloom from her heart displacing the chill of the night air. Those three words filled her soul with peace. "I love you too Willow."

This time their lips joined and they clutched together both feeling the joy of expressing their love for each other. When they paused to breathe Tara shivered.

"You are cold. Do you want me to get you a sweater?" Willow could see goose bumps on Tara's shoulders.

Tara knew her reaction wasn't from the weather. She leaned in close to Willow's ear. "No. I want you to take me to bed."

Willow smiled softly and brought Tara's hand to her mouth, kissing each digit before turning it over to kiss her palm and the tender skin of her delicate wrist. When Tara shivered again Willow laced their fingers together and led her down the stairs and into her bedroom.

Foregoing any lights, Willow lit several candles around the room as she kicked off her shoes. Tara was content to watch and wait, standing near the bed. Intimacy had always been challenging for her, but she felt completely comfortable in this moment, with this woman.

Willow finished her room preparations and approached Tara from behind. Her hands found their way to the blonde's hips as her lips kissed the back of Tara's neck. Multiple straps of dress crossed Tara's back and Willow reached for the fastener at the top as she whispered, "May I?"

Tara felt the words breeze across the fine hairs on the back of her neck and then a flush of arousal as she nodded. Willow's hands worked the straps loose and they fell one by one to the side leaving her back bare. Tara crossed her arms, holding up the front of the bodice as Willow's lips ran down the back of her neck followed by kisses on her shoulder blades and back. When she reached her lower back Willow dragged her lips up Tara's spine until she again reached the blonde hairline.

This time Willow pressed her body up against Tara's back and reached up and released the clip holding the blonde hair, allowing it to cascade down. "So beautiful." Willow choked with emotion.

Tara spun to face Willow and one hand reached up to caress the pale lightly freckled skin. "Yes, beautiful." When she reached up with her other hand to hold Willow's face, Tara's dress fell, pooling at her feet and leaving her standing in her panties.

It took a moment to register in Willow's mind that Tara was now mostly naked in her arms. Glancing down she took in the full breasts and curves of her love and sucked in a quick breath. "How lucky am I?"

Tara reached down and lifted Willow's sweater over her head as she felt Willow working the button and zipper on her jeans. Once she had divested the redhead of every item of clothing but her panties she stepped back and sat on the bed, admiring the lean, lithe body and the pert breasts of the redhead. "I'd say we are both incredibly lucky." Tara gave Willow her best sultry smile and reached out tucking her fingers into the waistband of the redhead's lace panties and pulled her to the bed.

As Tara shifted back she pulled Willow completely on top of her loving the feel of the light body pressing her gently into the bed. Their breasts crushed together and Willow shifted her hips allowing one thigh to press between Tara's. The new pressure on her center brought Tara's hands up to grasp Willow's head as she kissed her deeply. Tongues probed and entwined until both women were moaning and short of oxygen.

Willow lifted up as she caught her breath. She needed to see Tara's eyes. Her body was on fire with desire, but her mind was still catching up. She harbored deep seeded insecurities about her skill as a lover and she had to make sure Tara wanted this, with her. Her sudden bought of nerves must have shown because the next thing she knew Tara's arms were around her back and cradling her body tightly. Willow found her face was tucked into Tara's neck and she couldn't stop from placing little kisses on the soft skin.

"You're nervous." Tara didn't ask, she stated.

"I'm sorry." Willow's lips reached out for another kiss. "I probably seemed like all confident lover girl, but then I realized I love you so much and I want this to be really special for you and I got worried I won't be able to give you that."

"Willow, look at me." When she had coaxed the redhead back up above her Tara stroked red strands behind Willow's ears. "I love you. Every moment I am with you is special. There are no rules here. If you just want to kiss and cuddle tonight that's alright."

Tara's words were calming, but it was the look in her eyes that took Willow by storm. They flashed in the candlelight, a deep ocean blue filled with love and arousal. No gaze had ever reached so deep inside of her touching a place Willow didn't know existed. A fire had been stoked and she knew only loving Tara would extinguish the flames.

"Kissing and cuddling can happen later." Willow's voice was steady and followed by a lingering kiss on the blonde's lips. "I want to make love to you first."

Tara groaned as Willows lips trailed down her neck and across her chest, her fingertips lightly following her kisses until both hands braced Tara's breasts on the sides and Willow brushed her thumbs over already hardened nipples before selecting one to envelope with her lips. Willow bathed the erect flesh with her mouth and tongue before applying suction, rolling the tip gently across the roof of her mouth as Tara's groans turned to moans and her hips began to roll.

Willow smiled as she switched to the other breast, moving one hand to the abandoned nipple so she could alternate the suction of her mouth with traction of her fingers tugging and massaging. Willow was completely captivated by Tara's breasts. She had never had a well-endowed lover and found fondling the soft mounds unbelievably erotic. From Tara's reaction the caresses were highly appreciated.

Tara was in Willow heaven. Whatever nerves the redhead had been experiencing earlier had fled the room. She wanted Willow to continue the attention to her breasts, the feeling was phenomenal, almost too much so. Every tug of Willow's lips and fingers was shooting waves of arousal straight south. Tara could feel that her panties were soaked and her clit was throbbing.

When she couldn't take any more she lifted her hips and forced Willow's thigh more securely between her own to give her pressure on her center. The move also forced her own thigh up into Willow and the redhead's mouth popped off of her nipple with a moan.

Tara took the opportunity to reach down and caress Willow's breasts quickly reaching her nipples. When she gave both slight tugs Willow pushed her thigh up hard and Tara knew Willow could feel the wetness seeping out of the thin cloth barrier.

That was all it took for Willow to rise up enough to push her own remaining garment off and to quickly snake Tara's panties down her legs. With both items discarded Tara looked up to see a furnace of passion blazing in Willow's eyes as she placed her body completely between Tara's thighs and began to rock, never unlocking her fierce gaze. Tara's legs wrapped around Willow, moving with her, allowing the rhythm of Willow's love to fill every part of her.

It was only when the emotion forced Tara to close her eyes, her head pushing back into the pillow that Willow relented and moved her lips down across Tara's chest and abdomen, always kissing the skin before her, until she was kissing and nipping at Tara's inner thighs. Willow stopped to allow the feeling of being surrounded by Tara to envelope her, the scent of Tara's arousal permeating her senses, until a hand touched her head and gently attempted to guide her to the source.

Willow knew Tara had been more than patient. She had been watching the blonde writhe and squirm beneath her, driving both of them higher and higher. Now was the time to release that tension. She gently separated the swollen outer lips and ran her tongue up the side of one and down the other.

Tara was groaning again and Willow could see she was biting her lip to contain her obvious need. But Willow couldn't stop herself from admiring the pink folds before her, glistening in the dim light. Tara was leaning up on her elbows now, looking down. When the redhead saw Tara watching she reached out with the flat of her tongue and ran it up Tara's center in one slow stroke until she reached the already quivering bundle of nerves.

Tara fell back again as Willow began to work her tongue more fervently over her clit before dipping down to sample at her opening and then back again. Tara was already so stimulated when Willow took her clit between her lips and sucked it sent her over.

Willow didn't even pause as she moved up and kissed Tara deeply while simultaneously pushing two fingers easily inside of her wet passage. Now Willow moaned too as she began to thrust slowly, moving more deeply with each stroke. Soon Tara was clutching at her back and moaning more loudly. The moans were followed by Tara saying her name in ways Willow had never heard before, but knew she wanted to hear again and again.

Tara had one leg flung over Willow's hip pulling her close as Willow increased her speed and intensity. Willow could feel Tara flutter inside and knew she was close again. Her own arousal was screaming as she shifted until her center was against Tara's thigh providing some friction on her engorged clit with each thrust.

Willow knew she wouldn't last long and was determined to bring Tara with her. She brought her free hand to Tara's clit and the dual stimulation brought Tara to the edge again. She could feel Willow wetness on her thigh and slipped her hand down and found Willow's opening, thrusting up with two fingers. Both called out each other names as they climaxed together and Willow collapsed to Tara's side.

"Oh Willow, that was amazing." Tara could only draw her lover closer to her body in blissful exhaustion.

Willow curled up to her and they kissed tenderly, keeping as much skin touching as possible. When Tara shivered Willow reached down and brought up the sheet and blanket around their sweat soaked bodies. "I love you Tara."

"I don't know what you were nervous about. That was the most incredible experience of my life." Tara found Willow's lips. "I didn't even know I could do that more than once."

Willow grinned widely. "Really? But you did with me?"

Tara nodded a little embarrassed. "But I feel like I was way more on the receiving end tonight."

Before Tara could continue she found Willow's fingertips over her lips. "Tara, I got everything I wanted and needed. No rules, remember? I wanted to make love to you, to make you feel special."

Tara couldn't embrace Willow tightly enough. "No one has ever made me feel so special, or so loved. I love you so much."

They drifted off tucked together, naked and in love.

Which is how the slayer found them three hours later as she burst in the room for the second morning in a row. "Thank God you're both here. Willow can't you hear the alarm? The firehouse is under attack."


	13. Chapter 13-Battle Firehouse

Chapter Thirteen-Battle Firehouse

"Wha? Buffy! Kinda naked here!" Willow had been deep in the most restful sleep of her life only to be roused by light from the hall and the slayer yelling. "Hey, didn't I lock that door?"

"Yeah. Broke it. And if you don't want to die naked I suggest getting some clothes on and getting out here. All your witchy alarms are going off and I can hear people downstairs. Hurry up!" Buffy hollered as she retreated back into the common room.

Now Willow was awake enough to panic. She could hear the bells of the lower perimeter breach alarm sounding loudly and repeatedly. More worrisome was the overlying screech that indicated demons and not just humans had invaded. She leapt from the bed and pulled on the jeans and sweater still crumpled on the floor before turning to find Tara sitting on the edge of the bed with a look of terror on her face.

"Baby, we need to get you dressed." Willow scowled as she looked down at the dress on the floor. "That won't work. You need some clothes from your room." Willow grabbed her robe and wrapped it around Tara's shoulders as she got her on her feet.

A quick tug on the sash seemed to shake Tara out of her trance and she hurried after Willow down the hall toward her guest room. Willow was already muttering under her breath and Tara realized she was running through possible spell options, most of which Tara had never heard before.

Once they got inside the small room Tara hurried to the closet and grabbed the first shirt she could find and pulled it on. She turned to the dresser to grab a pair of jeans while Willow stood in the doorway listening to the commotion. Tara could hear that Xander and Anya had joined Buffy in the common room and they were trying to make a quick plan. Suddenly a new alarm sounded over the others, an insistent series of loud beeps.

"Dammit! That's the second floor alarm. They are on the move up here." Willow turned to Tara with fear clearly painted on her face.

Moments later the crash of weapons sounded from the common room. Willow was cursing herself for not grabbing anything useful from her room before they left. They had no weapons and all of her witchy supplies were downstairs in her office. She would have to remember to bring some upstairs for the future. Tara had pulled her jeans on and joined her at the door. Willow's first instinct was to run for the common room to join the fight but now she had to consider Tara.

"Stay here and block the door. I'll be back for you. If you can set a shield do it." Willow started to push Tara back into the small room.

"Willow no. I know this surprised me, but I can help. I can set a defensive shield. I can't just hide in here." Tara could hear the sounds of the fighting down the hall increase. "Please."

Willow didn't really want to leave her anyway. "Fine. Be careful and run if you get into trouble." She grabbed the blonde's hand and placed a kiss on her lips as they started down the hall. "I love you."

They only made it five steps before the passage was blocked by four lumbering men. Each was dressed in prison pants and a tee shirt. Abnormal muscles bulged from the neck, chest and arms of each. When they turned towards the two witches their faces were blank and their eyes empty of emotion.

Willow felt anger and a fierce protectiveness for Tara fill her senses. She readied fireballs at each palm as her eyes swirled black and green. She reached back to loose her weapons when Tara grabbed her arm and held it.

"Javier!" Tara cried as she looked towards the muscled men who were now moving slowly down the hall towards them. "Willow, they are people. I know him." Tara pointed to one of the figures.

"Gehhrrrrr." Willow growled in frustration as she pulled her arm free and brought her hands together, reshaping the fireballs into a shimmering red shield that reached from floor to ceiling between themselves and the men. "Come with me." She grabbed Tara's hand again and ran to the end of the hall and into a small room that contained several washers and dryers.

Willow stopped to lock the door behind them before racing to the small window at the other end. She forced the frame up and looked out. "Oh, this is bad, very bad."

Tara joined her and looked down towards the street. Several jeeps and of all things a limousine blocked all traffic from entering the street. The space in front of the firehouse was filled with more of the muscled zombie men as well as a group of vampires and select other demons.

"We can't get out this way. We need to go back." Willow's voice was filled with frustration. "I need to help Buffy and Xander."

They were steps from the door when the lock shattered into pieces and Javier walked into the laundry room. The back of his shirt was smoldering and his hair and hands were charred. He raised one thick arm and struck Willow on the downswing finding the side of her head. The blow sent her flying and she struck hard against one of the dryers and slid into a heap on the floor.

Tara acted on instinct. As Javier raised his arm to strike her next she created a shield and pushed him back into the hall, closing the door behind him. Without the lock Tara knew her magick would not hold long. She rushed to Willow's side and found her awake but woozy, clutching at her ankle.

"Ow." Willow hadn't been hurt in a fight in so long she had forgotten how bad it really felt.

Tara sat down in front of the wounded witch. "Where are you hurt?"

"My ankle mostly, although my head isn't exactly clear yet." Willow pointed to the shattered door. "How long will that hold?"

Tara's shoulders slumped. "Not long, sorry."

"Don't be. You saved us." Willow grabbed Tara's hand, entwining their fingers. "Since it's your spell I'll give you a boost. Focus on the shield and I'll be your power."

Willow waited until Tara had centered herself and re-focused on the shield at the door. Both witches could hear the pounding of at least two of the zombie men against the outside, thundering slams of thick arms that sounded like sledgehammers.

As Tara began to reinforce the shield she felt a tingle in her palm that was connected to Willow's. The slight sensation grew until she felt a wave of power surge into her body. She had never experienced so much magickal energy before and it nearly overwhelmed her. When the initial shock retreated she felt a wave of nausea as she realized a portion of the magickal transfer was dark magick, something she had never been exposed to. Her senses immediately rejected the darkness and she took her free hand and grounded the darkness into the wood of the floor.

Willow knew what was happening without words. She backed off of the transfer and waited for Tara to direct her further. She had lived with the balance of magicks inside of her for so long, she had forgotten how foreign the mixture would seem to a pure light witch. Part of her feared Tara would sever the connection in disgust, but she felt the other witch ground the darkness and accept the light magick.

The power Willow had provided was more than sufficient to seal the door and the battering blows from the outside faded away. Tara did not release Willow's hand from her own as the spell was completed. She had sensed Willow's regret at the unintentional transfer of the dark magick and didn't want her to feel they couldn't share their abilities.

Tara internally collected a stream of her own light magick and pushed it back through the connection and into Willow. The redhead gasped as she felt herself filled with light and purity. In all her years practicing witchcraft she had never felt anything so magnificent. Tara's magick was like the softest blanket, the sweetest cream, the most spectacular rainbow. Willow drew it in and wrapped her own magick around it, allowing the two to mingle and merge.

Tara smiled as Willow incorporated her gift and then shared the joined magick, showing her the way the power molded and formed into something stronger and more resilient. Willow held back the dark portions of her power, but they both found the new paired magick just as strong bathed only in light.

"Wow." Willow broke the silence that had enveloped them. Time had seemed to stand still, but in reality only a minute had passed since Willow's flight across the laundry room. "Thank you." She spoke quietly and reverently, trying to convey everything she was feeling to Tara with the simple declarative.

Tara smiled and gripped Willow's hand tighter in response before moving on to the problem at hand. "Any idea how to get out of here?"

Willow sat back against the dryer again and took the opportunity to rub her ankle. It was sore, but didn't seem to be broken. The door and the window were not good options without a wholesale slaughter against the invaders that would drain her quickly. But what option did they have? She tilted her head back to rest against the appliance behind her and her eyes found the ceiling. For a moment she thought about her dinner with Tara on the roof and smiled.

But the third floor apartment of Xander and Anya was between them and the roof. Would the attack have reached the apartment? The ex-demon always kept a cache of weapons handy. Why not try?

Willow looked back at Tara with a grin. "I have a crazy idea. We need to think three dimensionally."

When Tara scrunched her eyebrows in confusion Willow pointed up.

* * *

When the first of the zombie muscle men had made their way into the common room on the second floor Buffy, Xander and Anya had still been arguing over a plan and weapons. Initially Buffy tried to talk to the vacant eyed men in prison garb, but she quickly found that was useless. They failed to respond to threats as well as a few witty barbs she threw their way. So she settled for hitting them really hard.

When that proved less than effective she considered her more lethal alternatives. While they didn't look completely human, the men didn't twinge her slayer senses very much either. She wished Willow would get her skinny witch butt into the fray and then maybe she could figure out if the zombie like behavior was the result of a spell. Buffy really didn't want to kill innocent victims, although it was clear the zombie men did not reciprocate her kind feelings.

When the group of men lumbered close enough to get a solid blow in on Xander, Buffy knew they needed to change tactics. She ordered Anya back upstairs with instructions to call the council for reinforcements. She didn't know of any other council resources currently in San Francisco, but she had to try.

They were limited on the weapon situation as well. She had stakes and a couple of swords, which she really didn't want to use those against the men. Unfortunately her training staffs were downstairs so she broke the legs off of the coffee table and used two as clubs. Hitting anywhere but in the head was a waste of time. The zombie men would keep coming at them with broken limbs, grabbing and throwing incredibly hard but slow punches. They would be easy to evade if there just wasn't so damn many of them in such a small space.

Soon the floor was littered with guys still in prison garb that she and Xander had been able to knock out with blows to the head. They were actually starting to trip over bodies. She was making headway towards the stairs when she saw several of the zombies had moved into the hallway that led to the guest rooms. They were standing in front of a shimmering wall of flames and one by one they began to walk through, not caring as they lit themselves on fire. At least she knew where the witches were now.

Buffy got to the top of the stairs and started to knock the zombie men back, creating a pile up at the bottom of the staircase. She knew that would at least slow them down while she headed back to Xander who was holding his own but clearly tiring. This was a crap battle performance for the Scoobies. Holed up in separate areas of the firehouse with complete loss of the first floor to unknown invaders.

Buffy decided contacting Willow was the next priority. She headed down the hallway, disabling the zombies along the way until she arrived at the flaming shield. She could see the carpet, walls and ceiling were scorched, but the flames did not seem to be catching in any real way, probably as a result of the magick used.

"Willow! Tara! Can you guys hear me?" The slayer called out. When she received no response Buffy tentatively reached out and touched the shield. Fire bad. Magick or no she wasn't getting through that hallway.

Two new sounds reached her sensitive hearing at the same time. One sounded like a wall collapsing behind the fire shield. The other was the pounding of feet behind her, moving fast, and Xander yelling for her.

Giving up on the witches for the moment she retreated back down the hall to Xander's voice now at the level of panic. When she got back to the common room she could have kicked herself. She had left the stairwell unprotected thinking they only had the zombies to worry about. She really was out of practice in the apocalypse arena. Now this was turning into a major clusterfuck.

Xander was on his knees, flanked by a pair of vampires in game face. One had him by the hair and the other had a sword tip against his chest. A half dozen additional vamps were in a rough line between her and her business partner and friend. Buffy didn't see any way to dust so many without putting Xander at more risk.

"What's up guys? I don't recall extending an invite. How'd you get in?" Buffy decided a little information couldn't hurt and stalling seemed to be their best option at the moment.

"Sorry Buffy, that would be me." The slayer spun to the stairwell to find her sister coming into the room held by a vampire and followed by a man in a long dark cloak with a deep hood. The young woman had a large purple bruise rising up on her left cheek.

Buffy tried to contain her new level of anger at her attackers. "You Ok Dawn?"

"Yes, they grabbed me off the street and brought me here. Sent the zombie prisoners in first and then knocked me around until I invited them in. I guess it worked because I used to live here." Dawn tried to shake her arm free of the vampire holding her to no avail.

"What is going on here?" Buffy demanded looking from the vampires to the cloaked man who had ghosted in behind her sister and was now standing in the middle of the room.

"I will explain everything Buffy, but our guest list is still missing two witches and an ex-demon. We can't start this party without them, especially Rosenberg. I know they are still in the building. I'm going to send Xander to fetch them all, quickly. If everyone is not back in this room in two minutes, I will kill the girl."

The cloak stayed in place as he spoke. When he finished the vampires release Xander and he stood. "Run along now and be quick sidekick. Two minutes or little Dawnie dies."

* * *

Willow realized at the last second that bringing down the section of ceiling directly over where you were casting was probably a poor choice. She jumped out of the way with a squeal as drywall, flooring and carpet in the shape of a circle landed at her feet with a thud.

"Ok that gets an A for design and a D for execution." Both witches peered up into the three foot gap and could see the edge of a bed teetering but nothing appeared in danger of falling on them.

"Up we go?" Tara looked pretty uncertain with the prospect.

Willow just nodded in reply. "You first or me first or together?"

"Together if we can." Tara responded quickly.

"You'll have to hold on to me very tightly." Willow couldn't help but flirt.

"If I have to." Tara batted her eyelids and Willow forgot where they were for a moment.

"Uh, right." Willow gulped and then took Tara's hand and led her into the middle of the debris, directly under the opening. "Hang on."

Tara grasped her hands behind Willow's neck and the redhead held onto her waist as she chanted. After a few seconds they found themselves levitating slowly from the floor until they had risen into the room on the third floor.

"Time to dismount." Willow whispered to Tara as she continued to focus on the spell. Tara nodded and stepped to the side of the opening. When she had her footing Willow held out her hands and Tara pulled her from the opening and onto solid floor.

Willow looked around at where they had ended up and cringed. "Anya is going to kill me. She searched for this carpet for months, specifically for the master bedroom."

The door was open to the hall and neither witch could hear any noise. They walked quietly towards the living area and Willow kept a shield spell at the ready. It wasn't needed. They found Anya stacking anything that could be used as a weapon into a huge pile next to the door. Swords, stakes, kitchen knives, even a rolling pin had been deemed worthy.

"How's it going?" Willow asked as Anya found another knife stuck into a block of cheese in the refrigerator to add to her weapons cache.

"Willow! How'd you get in here? Oh never mind, you probably just teleported. The real question is why are you here and not downstairs fighting with Xander and Buffy? Those big zombie guys are everywhere and Buffy made me come up here to call Giles, who didn't even answer his phone. Shouldn't the council really have the phone staffed 24 hours a day? It really isn't helpful to hear a message telling you to press one to report supernatural activity. Hi Tara. Welcome to life with the Scoobies."

Willow turned to Tara and rolled her eyes. "Well I guess I better get downstairs then. Why don't I go check it out and you two can be backup, keep our path back up here clear if we need it."

Xander came bursting through the door before Tara or Anya could respond. "Everyone is coming with me. Hurry and don't argue or Dawn is dead."

That got everyone's attention. Anya started to say something but Willow saw the look in Xander's eyes and simply grabbed Tara's hand and started down the stairs knowing Xander would get Anya to follow.

When the Scoobies emerged into the common room they found the space had been cleared of bodies, but vampires lined the walls. Buffy was watching Dawn who was still held by a vampire and the cloaked man stood nearby.

"Very good. Everyone is here now." The cloaked man gestured to Willow to come forward. She turned to Tara and whispered to her before the two women released hands and Willow stepped in front of him.

"I think it's time to get reacquainted witch. Why don't you tell your colleagues who I am? You can properly introduce me to your special friend too." The man's voice was raspy and forced as he leered at Tara.

"Do I know you?" Willow tried to sound confident, but fear was running through her. Despite the change in his speech, she knew her nightmare, and Tara's, had come to life.

A curled hand reached up and grasped the hood and let it fall back. "Oh yes, you know me Willow Rosenberg. Eleven years ago you murdered me."


	14. Chapter 14-The Truth Hurts

Chapter Fourteen-The Truth Hurts

Willow was shaking. It started in her hands, but soon her arms were twitching so hard she had to wrap them around her waist. The only time she had ever experienced a feeling like this was during her withdrawal from her abuse of dark magick. Only Buffy had seen the worst of those nights. Now everyone was standing around staring at her and they were in grave danger, all because of her.

"Nothing to say Rosenberg? You had a lot to say that night, about the pain you thought I deserved and how you were going to kill me." Now that his hood no longer obscured his face Willow could see why his speech sounded abnormal. He had no lips. He also had no eyebrows, eyelashes or scalp hair. The flesh of his face was a twisted mass of scar, stretched tight over the bones. It looked uncomfortable.

Warren turned to Buffy. "Well since the witch seems to be speechless, how about you slayer? Surprised?"

"You'll understand if I withhold judgment on my best friend based on the word of the man who shot me. That is if you are Warren Mears." Buffy looked at Willow who had completely drawn into herself and was visibly trembling now, her head dropped forward until her chin was almost touching her chest. "What is this all about?"

"Simple justice." Warren was getting more animated with every second walking around Willow and waving his arms as he looked from person to person. "I've waited a long time get back what was taken from me and to see that my murderer was punished appropriately."

Warren stopped inches from Willow as he finished talking. "Now I serve a Master that can provide me those things."

Warren's words were dimly registering in Willow's mind, until the last. "Master?" She raised her head and looked at the disfigured man before her. His eyes were set deep and the same beady brown that Willow remembered. "Is that how you are here? You're working for some demon?"

"A demon?" Warren laughed, a thin reedy sound. "My Master is nothing of the sort. But you will find that out soon enough witch, when you have suffered what you are due. He owes you pain in his own right."

"Ok, I've had enough of the threats with the pain and the suffering. You are attacking us in our home and . . ." Xander found he could not finish his sentence. In fact he couldn't speak. His throat was constricting and he was having difficulty breathing. All of the Scoobies found themselves in the same predicament as Warren continued to cast, his arms extended out towards the group.

"Sidekicks will remain silent. You are here only to bear witness to the trial of Willow Rosenberg, dark witch and murderer. I will call witnesses as I see fit and only they shall speak." As Warren lowered his hands, the spell ended leaving the Scoobies gasping for breath. "For my first witness I call Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer."

Suddenly Buffy found herself seated in a chair with Warren standing in front of her. Willow was now enclosed in a cage that had appeared next to him.

"Ms. Summers. Do you recall the events of May 14, 2002?" Warren began.

"I remember you came into my yard and shot me." Buffy snapped.

"Yes, but I am not on trial here. What transpired after you were shot?" Warren asked.

"Xander called for an ambulance and I was taken to the hospital. Willow came a little while later, while I was unconscious and saved my life. She removed the bullet from my chest." Buffy smiled at the redhead, remembering what her best friend had done. Her smiled faded as she recalled the darkness that had filled Willow and how they had convinced her to go to England to work with the coven soon after the shooting.

"Yes, she saved your life using powerful dark magicks." Warren turned to face Willow in her cage before asking the next question. "But she didn't stay with you in the hospital did she, comforting you at your bedside. Do you know where she went after she left the hospital?"

"I was asleep. I don't know." Buffy answered defiantly.

Warren seemed displeased but with a wave Buffy and Xander changed places in the witness chair. "How about you sidekick? Do you know where Willow went after saving Buffy?"

Willow's always quick mind was flying trying to come up with a plan to get them all out of danger and capture Warren. While he played his game she had been sensing his power, testing the perimeter for weakness. She had found none. He had incredible power, mostly borrowed from a source she couldn't identify. Willow could get herself and one, maybe two others out with a teleportation, but she couldn't take everyone. Any spell she threw at him would likely result in one of their deaths, probably Dawn as she was still being held tightly by a vampire.

This was not how she had wanted to tell her friends, her family, about her worst transgression all those years ago, but she had no choice. Warren was simply toying with them and she needed to take away his advantage. Willow really wished she had been able to explain to Tara about Warren. She had come close the day before and Tara knew she wanted to tell her today along with the others. Well it was today now.

"I plead guilty." Willow called out from inside her cage. "You never asked for my plea Warren. Everyone knows you ask the defendant how they plead before a trial. I plead guilty."

Warren looked disappointed for a moment before what probably was the best approximation of a smile crossed his face. "Plea accepted. Willow Rosenberg has admitted she is a murderer. We will now move on to the punishment phase."

Tara had been frozen in place since Willow had left her side after whispering, 'I love you, no matter what happens' in her ear. But hearing Warren's words she could no longer stand silently.

"You are in no position to punish Willow for anything." Tara rushed to stand between Warren and Willow's cage. "You kidnapped me, hit me. If anyone should be arrested and punished here, it's you."

Warren chuckled low in his throat. "Ah, the lying girlfriend speaks. I thought you didn't know Rosenberg? Of course I wouldn't expect anything else from your type. Your involvement is not necessary now."

With that Tara found herself at the back of the room next to two vampires who each grabbed an arm and held her tight.

"Tara!" Willow called out gripping the bars of the cell. "Warren, this is between the two of us. We don't need this parody of a show."

"Oh, but we do witch. Your punishment needs to be witnessed. And who better to do so than your friends." Warren sneered as Willow slumped against the cage bars.

"What are you going to do Warren? What has your Master dictated?" Buffy wanted to distract Warren, maybe get him mad. It was finally sinking in that this deformed creature was the nerd who had shot her and disappeared. Now it seemed Willow had been somehow responsible. "Gotta follow orders? Who is calling the shots anyway?"

"Still think your wit will get you out of trouble? Not this time slayer. First I'm going to take care of the witch, then we can discuss you and your sidekicks. My Master has given me great leeway in my retribution, so you don't need to worry about his identity, everyone will know that in time."

Warren waved his hand and all of the Scoobies were immobilized before he turned towards Willow again. "It's time. Would you like to give your friends a preview of what they are about to see or shall I?"

"What do you mean?" Willow asked quietly.

"I'm only going to do to you exactly what you did to me." As Warren spoke he raised his hand and a bullet began to spin above his outstretched palm. "We'll start with this."

* * *

Most of the zombie men still in front of the firehouse were easy to distract. All they needed was the wave of the proverbial red cape and that was easy enough to provide. They were safely ensconced in a nearby warehouse for now with soldiers for guards. The vampires were inside. A few other assorted demons had been left to guard the entrances, front and back. Two had proved moderately annoying but all were now piles of rotting flesh and goo.

Entering the first floor they passed two small offices before coming to a large empty space. Although some of the group had never been here, she knew the space well enough from several visits. At the moment it was dark but she could sense the vampires lurking in the shadows.

She didn't need to speak to relay the information to her team. They worked together in dark places every night. They spread out silently around the space and engaged the vampires. Most were quickly dust, but a few turned into skirmishes. Only one caused any real problem by running instead of fighting. He was a tall thin vamp and headed for the internal stairs that led to the second floor, forcing her to leap several tables and benches and run trying to catch up.

She remembered that the stairs led into a smaller common area on the second floor and hoped she would find Buffy and the others there. She slid into the room and came to a stop next to the ugliest man she had ever seen standing in front of a cage. It took a moment for her to realize that she knew the woman screaming behind the bars.

Willow's sweater was torn open, exposing her sternum, and a bullet was spinning ever so slowly into the skin of her chest. A trickle of blood had appeared, running down her cleavage and with each second the bullet traveled further in and more blood poured out.

She couldn't pull her eyes away from the horrible sight until she heard Buffy's voice bark out her name.

"Faith."

The deformed man who spun to confront her was also distracted by Buffy's loud yell. The interruption stopped whatever spell he was performing on Willow from progressing and the witch stood stock still, taking short shallow breaths with the bullet visibly embedded in her chest.

The disturbance became a melee as the rest of Faith's council team raced into the room and confronted the vampires. Giles saw one vamp ready to sink fangs into Dawn and dispatched him with a crossbow bolt. Kennedy and two junior slayers took on several stationed around the room as Buffy engaged the ones near Tara. Xander and Anya turned and ran up the stairs to their apartment only to reappear a moment later, arms full of weapons which they quickly distributed to the unarmed Scoobies.

Faith was focused on the hideous questionable human who was clearly in charge. He reeked of dark power. She felt free to treat him as a demon after seeing what he was doing to Willow. She attempted to hit him, but he was surrounded by some sort of personal shield, and her blows deflected off.

Faith knew she was at least drawing his focus away from Willow. As she rained blows onto his shield, the cage Willow had been held in vanished and she slumped to her knees, oblivious to the battle raging around her. The next moment a blonde woman Faith had never seen before rushed to the fallen witch. The slayer was concerned that the dark warlock had an apprentice that needed to be separated from Willow until she saw the woman gently cradle the injured redhead in her arms and kiss her face tenderly.

Somehow seeing that flash of true love in the midst of the carnage spurred Faith on. She had known Willow for a long time and knew the good and the bad times the witch had experienced. She also knew that Willow had never found anyone who looked at her the way this blonde woman did, and she deserved that kind of love. Whoever this wormy piece of warlock shit was, she was going to take him down.

Spinning kicks joined the arm blows trying to find weak spots in the shield surrounding the man. From the sounds of the room, his shielding was personal and did not protect his minions. The vampires were falling fast to the stakes of the slayers and several piles of dust were accumulating on the floor.

As the odds continued to shift to their favor, Faith saw Buffy approach Willow and the blonde out of the corner of her eye. Buffy scooped up the witch and ran up the stairs leading to the third floor with the blonde close behind.

Buffy was only gone a minute before Faith felt her at her shoulder. "I need to get in on this. Warren here is in big trouble."

The combined blows of both slayers soon started to take their toll on Warren's ability to hold the shield. He growled in frustration as he saw his vampires decimated and wondered what had happened to his legion of zombie warriors. Again he saw his ultimate victory against the Scoobies snatched away at the last minute. At least this time he had made Rosenberg truly suffer.

With one final influx or dark power Warren pushed the slayers away and allowed his shield to drop long enough to cast a teleportation spell which dropped him into the back seat of his limousine. His driver was patiently waiting at the wheel as per his instructions. Through the exhaustion brought on by all of the casting he had done that night he simply uttered, "home," and the limo took off down the street away from the firehouse.

* * *

When the cavalry had arrived and Warren's spells had been released Tara could only see Willow in her vision. She knew fighting surrounded her on all sides, but she wasn't trained for that and Willow needed her. The moment the cage vanished she began to work her way through the room dodging Warren, the vampires and the slayers.

When Tara got to her, Willow was slumped to her knees and her face was strained with pain. All Tara could think to do was hold her gently and comfort her until they could get out of this madness. Willow leaned into her, unable to raise her arms without aggravating the pain, tears streaming down her face.

When Buffy came to them she spoke quietly, but with authority. "Will, I need to get you out of here. I'm going to take you upstairs for now." Then the slayer scooped the witch up as quickly as possible and strode towards the stairs. Willow let out a gasp and the tears continued to flow, but she said nothing.

After laying her gently on the couch Willow closed her eyes. Buffy looked at Tara. "Take care of her. I've got to go back. Call 911 if you have to, we'll explain somehow."

"No. No hospital!" Willow moaned and tried to sit up. "It's a bullet wound Buffy. They'll call the police and I'll lose my job."

"Do what you have to Tara." Buffy spun on her heels and ran out of the apartment leaving the two women alone.

Tara kneeled down next to the couch and took Willow's hand. She could see the flat base of the bullet still sitting in the skin of Willow's chest, but the rest of the bullet was buried inside. Blood continued to seep, although the flow seemed to have diminished. "We have to get you to a hospital."

"Tara, please, no. You haven't been around the Scoobies very long, but you'll find we really hate hospitals, at least as patients." Willow started to sit up again but had to take a sharp breath. "Can you get a couple pillows to put behind me? I think it's better if I sit."

Tara frowned but did as Willow asked. Willow settled back into the pillows and tried to calm her breathing. "Damn. This hurts." She tried to smile to show Tara that it was going to be ok. She probed gently at the wound with the fingers of her right hand. "It's not very deep. I can push it out with a little magick, but I'm worried about bleeding. My suturing skills are terrible and I'm not sure I could sew myself anyway."

"Willow I'm scared. I think we should call an ambulance." Tara couldn't think straight as she looked at the bullet protruding from her lover's chest, so she allowed her gaze to rise up to the green eyes that were still filled with tears. "But if you can push the bullet out, I can probably heal the wound."

"You could do that? Oh Tara, that would be amazing. I've never known a witch with real healing power." Willow squeezed Tara's hand as she spoke.

"It would be better if we could use a salve to augment the spell. I would need some herbs, clove, geranium, comfrey if you have it." Tara's mind was already creating the most effective healing spell she could imagine.

"Yes! I have all of those, but they are in my office. We might have to wait a few minutes until Buffy and Faith get everything under control downstairs." Suddenly Willow slapped the back of the sofa with her palm. "I feel so useless! I should be helping. Instead I got us into this mess."

Willow closed her eyes as she remembered what Warren had told her friends and Tara. She knew they would be disappointed in her for keeping this secret, as she was in herself. She had no idea what Tara would think or how she could be in a relationship with a murderer. "Tara, about what Warren said. . ."

Tara stopped her immediately. "No. Willow don't. Whatever happened was long ago and that horrible man is wrong to do what he is doing. I don't think he is really human anymore either, he just doesn't feel right. He hurt you and planned on torturing you in front of all of us. We need to focus on stopping him right now."

"Ok." Willow wondered if Tara was just going to save the conversation for later, but she would accept what she could get for now.

Tara saw Willow's downcast expression and knew she was still worried. She leaned over and kissed Willow gently. "I love you. Nothing he says or does will change that."

"I am so lucky." Willow smiled and then grimaced. "Except for this really painful bullet in my chest."

"Well Xander says if you need to go to the hospital you can go now. It's all clear downstairs." Anya spoke as she walked into the apartment. "Vampires are all poof and the ugly guy got away."

"Is everyone Ok? Nobody got hurt right?" Willow felt the guilt rising if anyone had been injured by Warren.

"Everyone is fine. The slayers slayed and the rest of us pitched in. You're the one with the bullet in her chest. I have to say from a vengeance perspective that was pretty good. I imagine it was quite painful." Anya got that glassy look in her eye that came from her mental trips down memory lane.

"Thanks Anya, we'll be headed downstairs now." Willow sat up and turned to Tara. "Help me down to my office and we can do the spell."

Buffy insisted on going with the witches down to the first floor and the other slayers secured the area around the firehouse. As Tara prepared the salve for the wound, Willow explained to both of them what had happened with Warren. Tara had said the healing spell would make her very tired and she wanted her best friend and girlfriend to understand what he said was true.

But none of them could explain his presence now, seemingly alive. Buffy promised to get Giles onto the research as Tara prepared an area on the floor for Willow to lie. They helped Willow get comfortable and with a few whispered words from the redhead they watched as the bullet slowly reversed out of her chest until Buffy could reach out and take it in her hand.

The wound was bleeding steadily now and Tara began a quiet chant as she placed her hands over Willow's chest. She could feel the warmth of healing as she called it from nature and channeled it through her hands and into Willow. When the heat started to recede she removed her hands to find the bleeding stopped and the hole where the bullet had been now closed, but the skin was fragile and pink. Tara applied the mixture of healing herbs and oil she had created and covered the area with breathable gauze. She hoped the salve would keep scarring to a minimum.

By the time Tara had applied the bandage Willow was fast asleep. She followed Buffy who carried the petite witch and placed her in bed.

"I should go check and see if Faith and the others need any help. You'll be ok here?" Buffy didn't think Tara would leave Willow's, but her protective side needed to be sure, especially after everything Willow had just admitted to them.

Tara smiled and patted Buffy on the arm. "I'll take care of her Buffy. It's alright. Thank you."

Buffy found Giles, Dawn and the slayers in the main room on the first floor. They were recounting what had happened and trying to piece everything together. She filled them in on the events of the last few days and found out that they had decided to come from Cleveland as soon as Anya had called from the farm. It had just taken them a little time to get there.

Buffy was still confused about one thing. "So did you guys take care of all of those zombie men? There were a lot of them and they didn't look like they would dust."

Faith stood up and gestured for Buffy to follow her. They walked out of the firehouse and down the block to an empty warehouse. "You've got more friends than you think B. We handled the inside of the firehouse, but someone else you know took care of the big guys on the street."

Faith opened the door and ushered Buffy inside with a wave. "Hey soldier boy. Got a visitor for ya."

Buffy looked confused as Faith waved and left. When she turned around she saw a sight she had never thought she would see again. A certain man in uniform.

"Riley."


	15. Chapter 15-Old Friends and New Problems

Chapter Fifteen-Old Friends and New Problems

Willow woke slowly. She felt drugged, like she imagined sleeping pills made you feel, if she ever took them. She was wearing a t-shirt and she could see a bandage covering her chest peeking out from beneath the loose collar. That brought all of her memories back in a rush and her entire body stiffened with remembered pain and anxiety.

But everything was going to be ok. Because her involuntary flinch caused Tara to snuggle up more closely and tighten the hold around her waist, her soft breasts pushing delectably into her back. If Tara was here spooning her everything was right with the world.

Willow looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was 7:00am, on Monday morning. "Oh shit."

Her exclamation reached Tara's ears and she was awake in an instant. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm late for work. It's Monday, I am supposed to be at work today." Willow started to get out of bed until a tightness in her chest brought on a grimace.

"No work for you today missy. Call in sick. I need to change the salve and the healing spell needs more time. Aren't you incredibly tired?" Tara pulled Willow back down onto the bed with little resistance.

"Actually I am. That's the healing?" Willow felt Tara nod and scooted back down into her embrace. "Is everything alright? I guess I passed out after the spell last night."

Tara nodded again. She felt tired as well from casting the spell and then staying up to watch over Willow until she fell asleep at her side. "Buffy came by and said everything was under control for now and to get some rest, so go back to sleep."

This time it was Willow who nodded. She was asleep again in moments.

* * *

Riley and Buffy had talked and strategized well into the night. After the initial shock of seeing him after so many years, Buffy had regained her composure and thanked Riley for helping. Willow had told her about Riley interceding on Donny's behalf, but she hadn't realized he was part of a full-time government demon fighting team.

They had jointly determined that the zombie soldiers would be transported and held at a nearby Navy base. Riley had sent the information they had on Warren and his 'master' to the research division for analysis, but the data seemed thin.

When the work part of the conversation was complete neither wanted to part. Each made confessions of the past, failed relationships, regrets. But mostly they talked about their lives and plans. It was comfortable, nice even.

Eventually Buffy had to head back to the firehouse to get Giles and the other slayers settled in. The damage to the building wasn't terrible all things considered and the guest rooms were mostly intact. She stopped by to check in on Willow and found Tara keeping watch so she headed off for some rest of her own.

* * *

Tara woke up around noon and wandered to the kitchen to make some food. Was it breakfast as the first meal of the day? Or lunch because of the time. She wasn't used to the odd hours. When she got to the kitchen she found Faith and Kennedy rifling through the refrigerator arguing.

"How about I make some quesadillas?" Tara offered to the slayers before they destroyed the appliance.

Faith pulled Kennedy out of the fridge and turned around to find the attractive blonde she had seen yesterday taking care of Willow. "Hey. We didn't really get introduced yesterday. I'm Faith. And this is Kennedy."

"Hi. I'm Tara. You are both slayers? Like Buffy?"

"Yeah, that's us with the slaying." Faith watched as Tara pulled various items out and started cooking. "So you're with Red?"

Tara turned to Faith and smiled. "Yes, Willow and I are girlfriends."

Faith sat at one of the bar stools at the kitchen island and Kennedy sat down next to her. "Ken here dated Red for a while, didn't you Ken?"

"Faith be nice. That was years ago. Willow and I have just been friends for a long time." Kennedy smacked Faith on the arm before addressing Tara. "Thanks for making lunch. We would've ended up with pb&j for sure."

As she cooked Tara watched the two slayers. They seemed different than Buffy somehow, harder maybe. "So do you just travel around where you're needed or is there someplace you call home?"

Faith answered. "Cleveland. There's an active Hellmouth there, the only one in North America since Sunnydale closed for business. You do know about all this stuff, right?"

Before Tara could answer Willow appeared in the doorway. "Tara's a witch. She understands Faith." Willow reached up and scratched at the bandage on her chest. "She's an amazing healer too. I think I'm as good as new."

Willow strode over to where Tara was standing by the stove and gave her a quick kiss.

Tara smiled a little bashfully, glancing back at the two slayers who were busy smirking at them. "Hungry?"

"Starving. Ooohhh, quesadillas? Can I have extra cheese?" Willow was practically drooling over the ones currently cooking in the pan.

Tara swatted her on the rump with the spatula. "Yes. But these are for Faith and Kennedy. I'll make our next."

"Fine." Willow gave her best pout as she got some ice tea out of the refrigerator.

"Willow, can I talk to you?" Kennedy gestured towards the door leading to the common room. "We'll just be a minute."

Faith raised an eyebrow to Kennedy, but the younger woman didn't flinch. "More than a minute and your food is fair game, right blondie?"

"Her name is Tara." Willow growled into Faith's ear as she passed by the slayer.

Willow found Kennedy standing outside the doorway. "I just wanted to say Hi and I'm glad to see you're ok today. Yesterday was messed up. We were all so angry when we saw what that guy was doing to you."

"I'm ok. You guys came in and saved the day, you saved me." Willow wrapped her arms around Kennedy and gave her a gentle hug. "Thank you."

Kennedy gave Willow one quick squeeze in return and stepped back. "So, you and Tara. You're happy?" She had been surprised that Willow had never settled down with anyone over the years. They had been together through the demise of Sunnydale and she had thought maybe Willow would come back to her after everything had resolved. Instead both of them had drifted through a series of relationships.

"Very happy." Willow smiled softly. "Ken, she's the one."

Kennedy nodded. "Then I'm very happy for you."

Back in the kitchen Faith had plowed through her food and half of Kennedy's. Tara waved at Kennedy's plate indicating that Faith should go ahead and finish it. "I'll make her another."

Faith wasn't sure what to make of the quiet blonde. The only woman Faith had ever seen Willow with was Kennedy, and the two women couldn't be more different.

"So, you and Red been together long?"

"No, not long." Tara kept looking wistfully at the door, hoping Willow would reappear with her ex.

"But you can handle all this shit, right? Cause the Scoobies, the Council, they are into some deep stuff. One apocalypse after another you know." Faith was focused on Tara's back as she placed more food on the stove, but at Faith's comment the blonde spun around and pinned her with a stern glare.

"What do you really want to know Faith?" The way Tara asked the question Faith knew she had underestimated the blonde and was secretly glad to see a feisty side to the other woman. Faith got up and stood closer, leaning against the kitchen island, but not crowding Tara's space.

"I've known Red a long time, since she was in high school. We've been through some awful stuff together." Faith waited until Tara nodded slightly in acknowledgement. "Red and I, we're sort of kindred spirits too, we both got some dark shit inside, done some things we're not proud of."

Tara looked down as Faith continued to talk, worry lines marring her forehead. Faith stepped right in front of her now and raised her chin up with one finger until their eyes met. "There's one big difference though. I did shit because I wanted to. With me it was always selfish. Red, Willow, used her magick for other people. She's a fucking genius and has all this mojo. But it was always about helping Buffy and the gang, even when she went too far and had to get help to come back. All I'm saying is she deserves someone who really gets her and who won't run away from who she is, or try to get her to change."

With supernatural speed Faith whipped around Tara and had the almost burnt quesadilla off of the stove and on Kennedy's plate. "Ken. Get your ass in here and eat, food's fucking amazing."

Faith saw Tara was standing half in shock still blinking from Faith's sudden movement and yell.

"Oh, and blondie? Red's got a lot of friends who care about her. More than she probably realizes. People who would do anything for her." The way Faith emphasized 'anything' left little doubt in Tara's mind what Faith meant.

After lunch Willow headed down to her office to check on the final database search on James Pierce's cases. She had never gotten a chance to get back to it after the attack and her injury. The printout she picked up first confirmed her suspicions. All of the cases that fell outside of James's usual type were in some way related to PAI. Two were employees, one was the employee of a subsidiary, Mr. Maclay and then Mrs. Darby.

James was covering up murders. The unvarnished thought was scary and depressing. While she had never liked James and found him to be an insufferable prick, she didn't see him as the type to be complicit in murder. Somehow a physician behaving this way was worse and angered her more.

Willow also realized she didn't have enough evidence to report James to Dr. Banks. The associations were too tenuous on their own and she didn't have the direct connection between James and PAI yet. Stopping Warren and PAI were more important right now then dealing with James Pierce and his backend cover-up.

As she finished scanning the printout on the searches, Willow reached over to log back in to her laptop. As soon as she entered her password, the screen flashed a giant red X. Willow dropped the papers on her desk and hurriedly scanned her personally designed protection program. Someone had tried to breach her system. It only took a few keystrokes for her to find it was a trace back to identify her IP address. Her backdoor log in of the medical examiner database and her search had been discovered.

The trace had been diverted to a harmless website in Iceland per her defense program, but her search had been identified. Since James Pierce was the subject, she knew suspicion would fall on the only other individual who knew the system well enough to perform such a search, herself.

As Willow pondered the implications that might be waiting for her at work, Giles tapped lightly on her door.

"May I come in? If you are busy we can talk later." Willow hadn't seen her mentor in over a year. He was still trim and fit, but had allowed the gray that used to dust his temples to weave throughout his hair. The lines on his face were a little deeper and she noticed the glass in his frames slightly thicker than it used to be. But he was still Giles.

"No, let's talk. I need a distraction." Willow waved him in and joined him on the loveseat after embarrassing him with a hug. "Thanks for coming to my rescue last night. That was good timing."

"Not good enough. I'm sorry you were hurt Willow. Are you feeling better?" Giles sounded serious and little tired.

"Yes. Tara helped. She's a really amazing witch Giles! She healed me. She's been practicing since she was little. She's the kind of witch I've always wanted to know, be friends with, and now well, we're together and that's even better." As she spoke the blush on Willow's skin rose up her face until even her ears burned. It wasn't like Giles didn't know she was gay, he had been there when she and Kennedy were together; it just felt like she was talking to her father.

Her disclosure seemed to lighten his mood. "I'm very happy for you Willow. May I ask, is she as powerful as you are? What are her talents, her areas of interest?"

"If you are trying to find out if she uses dark magick the answer is no Giles. She is purely a white witch. Her spells are defensive only. I don't think she's as powerful as me, but we both know that is probably a good thing." Willow was looking at her hands as she twisted her fingers together.

Giles reached out and covered her fidgeting digits with his own hands. "Your power is a good thing Willow. You just needed to learn control, and it seems that you have."

"I don't know about that. I got angry when we rescued Tara at the farm and my eyes went black." Willow had been concerned about telling Giles about what had happened. "And Warren? I don't understand how he is here, but I do know it is my fault. I lost control when he shot Buffy, and I killed him, or so I thought."

Giles sat back and contemplated what Willow was telling him. He had heard the story from Buffy earlier in the day, but hearing the young woman say it herself was unsettling. Of course his past didn't leave him in a position to judge. "Willow, I think we are all a little thrown by your recent disclosure, but it was a long time ago. As for recent events, did your eyes stay black? Were you unable to regain control? Did you do anything you regret?"

Willow thought about what Giles was saying. "I stayed in control. Yes, I did access some dark sources, but I only used what I needed to keep us safe. Do you think I'll be Ok? I don't want to think I'm in control and then all of a sudden, klablooee! I'm an over-the-hill goth witch rampaging around San Francisco."

"Dear lord. If you are an over-the-hill anything that makes me ancient! You have matured in your magick now beyond my ability to tell you what is right and what is wrong. I trust you Willow, we all trust you. And it sounds like Tara is a good match for you, in magick. The rest I'll leave for you." Giles found his handkerchief and quickly gave his lenses a wipe.

"Thanks Giles, that means a lot to me." Willow felt nothing but relief at Giles's words.

"Honestly, I had hoped you would work for the new Council one day Willow. Your talents and organizational skills would make you a fine leader. I know what you do in your job is important, but just know there is always a place for you working with me."

* * *

As Willow rode the train out of the city the next morning she was anxious what might be awaiting her at work. She had fallen asleep during dinner and Tara had tucked her into bed. She didn't even need a bandage on her chest this morning, all that was left was a light pink scar. She felt rested, but there was still so many questions regarding Warren, PAI and James Pierce.

The minute she got in the building Willow knew she would only be worrying about James Pierce that day. He was standing in the hallway next to her office door. As she approached and got her keys out he towered over her. "Don't touch anything in your office. I'm getting Dr. Banks."

As soon as he left Elise scurried around the corner. "What the hell is going on Will? Pierce has been pacing up and down the hall. He's been telling everyone you're getting fired today."

Willow knew she didn't have much time. "You've been a good friend. Help me out by keeping an eye on James. He's dangerous Elise. I can't prove it yet, but he's covering up murders. Just watch him, but be careful."

They could both hear multiple footsteps coming down the hall. "Go. It won't help to have you here."

Elise paused as if to say something, but just nodded and walked away.

Willow went into her office and sat down to wait. James came into her office first with a smug look on his face followed by Dr. Banks.

"Willow, I need to talk to you about something." Dr. Banks was glowering.

"Yes sir." Willow looked only at her boss, ignoring James's presence.

"Dr. Pierce has made an allegation against you. He says you have improperly accessed and searched the computer database." Dr. Banks looked like a man pronouncing a death sentence.

Willow needed to talk to her boss alone. She also needed time. Pierce was involved with things he didn't understand. Whoever he was working for was involved with demons and mutants and those kind of involvements never ended well. She just needed to let the rope play out a little further.

"Dr. Banks, may I review the written allegation?" Willow asked innocently.

James stepped forward in a huff and looked at the chief. "My word is enough. You need to fire her right now!"

Willow looked calmly at both men. "Dr. Banks I would be happy to speak to you in private. But if you are already considering disciplinary action against me I would like to have the opportunity to review the allegations in writing before I respond, as is required by the State Medical Examiner's employee policy manual section 4.2."

"This is ridiculous!" James bellowed.

"Dr. Pierce I think it would be best if you return to your office. Get back to work, I insist." Dr. Banks stood firmly until the angry doctor stormed out.

When Dr. Banks turned back towards Willow his expression had softened. "You're going to tell me this is just James being crazy right?"

"I'm sorry boss, I can't do that." Willow wanted to tell Dr. Banks everything, but she knew there was no chance he would believe what she would need to tell him. And technically she had violated the rules by accessing the database and running the searches on James.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Willow could see the older man didn't want to do this, but she wasn't leaving him much of a choice.

"No sir."

"Then you are suspended pending investigation. Please give me your ID card and keys." After she gave him the indicated items he sighed and pointed at the door. "I'm very disappointed Willow. I never expected something like this from you."

"I'm sorry sir. Hopefully, in time, I will be able to explain better." Willow walked quickly to the hall. She had no desire to run into James again.

By the time she got back to the firehouse Willow was in tears. James had bested her at her core skill of hacking and it may have cost her dearly. She felt an equal measure of anger and sadness at the current state of affairs. Warren had escaped and was working for someone or something of immense power, James was still in a position to cover up murder and PAI had moved beyond creating pacified workers to make some sort of zombie soldier. Worst yet, the connections still eluded them.

Willow found Buffy and the slayers working out in the large room downstairs. She beckoned them with a curt gesture and a "meeting now" call. Tara, Giles and Xander were talking in the common room with the TV on in the background. Willow assumed Anya was at work. A variety of maps were laid out on the table and it looked like Tara had been describing where her family farm was to Giles.

They all looked up surprised to see Willow home. Tara jumped up when she saw the tears in Willow's eyes and came to her side. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Willow just nodded and gave her a brief hug as everyone found seats around the room. "I've been suspended from work. Dr. Pierce somehow found out about my computer searches on his cases and filed a complaint with my boss. I bought some time by forcing James to follow protocol and put everything in writing."

Both Buffy and Xander were stunned. They had seen Willow hack into systems at will for 15 years and she had never been caught. Buffy was the one to speak up. "Is there anything we can do? Is it time to go kick his ass, because I would really enjoy that right now."

"Thanks for the sentiment, but no." Willow was pacing in front of the TV as she spoke. "I'm just so frustrated by all of this and I'm not sure what our next move should be. Anyone have any ideas?"

Xander blinked for a moment before he focused on the screen partially obscured by his friend. "Will, turn up the TV."

"Xander, I really don't think now is the time for mindless entertainment!" Willow threw her hands up in exasperation.

"No, Will, look." Now it was Buffy speaking quietly and seriously.

Willow turned around and saw a news conference being televised. The speaker was identified as the Chairman of PAI. She turned up the volume.

Flint was reading a prepared statement that announced the immediate expansion of the pacified workers program to industrial capabilities. Factories would be staffed by pacified workers with supervision. He revealed a number of contracts already completed with the military and the acquisition of a variety of production facilities including weapons and military vehicles by PAI. He also announced he was running for Governor of California.

After a few minutes he began to drone on about the benefits to society including removing ordinary citizens from the dangerous work of the assembly line and Willow stopped listening. Her mind was trying to grasp the amount of control PAI would have with a complete monopoly over weapons and food sources.

"PAI is conducting a coup. They will have control of the military, all food sources and they are building a zombie army." Willow hadn't even realized she had spoken her conclusions out loud until Giles exclaimed "bloody hell."

"The problem is, we don't know who PAI is trying to put in power. Flint is a straw man. He must be working for the same Master as Warren." Willow turned to Buffy and the other slayers. "We need to get inside the PAI production facility and get samples of the serum they are using to make these zombie soldiers. Maybe if I can break it down I can find the source of the power, possibly reverse it."

Buffy stood and looked around the room. "I'm tired of being on the defensive with these people. Let's get on their turf and stir things up. Dr. Rosenberg needs some samples and we need to kick some ass. We go in tonight."


	16. Chapter 16-The Ninth Circle of Hell

Chapter Sixteen-The Ninth Circle of Hell

They divided into two teams. Faith, Kennedy and Giles were the advance team. They would scout the layout and find the best entry point. Buffy, Xander, Willow and Tara were the second team. It was their responsibility to identify the source of the pacification/mutant soldier serum and obtain the samples Willow needed for testing. Riley had offered to join them but Buffy had declined. He would be fired if caught at this level of breaking and entering, even from a super-secret government demon hunting job.

Willow thought both teams should have three members. She was not happy that Tara was insisting on being a part of the mission. She had tried every argument she could think of to dissuade her lover to no avail.

"It's too dangerous."

"I can protect myself."

"You could be arrested."

"I've been arrested before, I'm an activist Will."

"I'll be able to focus better knowing you are safe."

"I can help you. I've seen the pacified workers up close and I know their aura. I can identify what's going on more quickly than you can."

"Fine. I love you."

"I love you too."

So now their four member team was huddled in the back of a delivery truck parked in a loading dock at the PAI industrial complex waiting for Faith to give them the signal to enter the facility. Willow was surprised to find Tara's presence actually calmed her usual anxiousness waiting for a mission to start. But then again Willow found most everything about Tara surprising and calming. Except when she was hot and exciting, but that wasn't appropriate to think about right now.

Luckily Faith's somewhat grating voice barked out for them distracting Willow from her naughty thoughts. The four ducked down to enter through the half open bay door and found themselves in a large open warehouse filled with boxes prepped for shipment. Willow saw the boxes were labeled with biological warnings and statements to store in dry cool conditions. She figured they probably contained serum.

"We secured this area, but the hallways are filled with sensors and cameras." Kennedy informed the newly arrived team. "Will, anything you can do about that?"

"Let me see." Willow spied an office at one end of the room and found a computer terminal hardwired into the system. She whipped a compact laptop out of a backpack and connected. The security system was well done and complex, but she wasn't looking for long-term access. A well-disguised cover patch would do for a few hours. They only needed to fool the cameras and sensors to hide their presence.

Five minutes later Willow emerged from the small office with a smile. "I bought us about two hours. Now we only have to worry about running into any people."

Faith and Kennedy took point and looked like they were used to working as an experienced team. Giles followed with Tara and Willow and Xander and Buffy covered the rear. They worked their way down several deserted hallways that seemed to contain nothing but offices until they reached a set of elevators.

"Up or down?" Faith asked looking at the buttons by the door.

Giles pushed the up button and waited for the door to open. Looking inside he saw the upper floors displayed on the key pad next to a recessed panel. "Looks like we need to go down. I'm afraid we require your assistance yet again Willow."

Kennedy jammed the door open and Willow took out a smaller device attached to an access card. She opened the panel and swiped her universal access card across the screen and waited. Thirty seconds later the buttons labeled B1-B4 glowed green and Willow looked to the other who all shrugged before she pushed B2.

All seven of the team piled into the elevator and Kennedy released the doors to close. When they opened at level B2 the slayers were ready to spring into action, but no one was waiting for them.

"Demons, but not close." Buffy spoke quietly to the group. Faith and Kennedy nodded in agreement. "Let's spread out, see what's on this level and regroup in five to move on if you find nothing interesting."

The two teams separated and headed out down different hallways. Willow, Tara, Buffy and Xander found themselves in a series of lab spaces. The rooms were filled with machines and lab benches, some with microscopes set up on them.

"Looks like you should be right at home Will." Xander commented as they worked their way through the area. "Lab geek central."

They worked their way to the back of the lab where a bank of machines were running full tilt. A door opened to the side and a young man in a lab coat strode out holding a cup of coffee which he promptly dropped when he saw the armed group. When he tried to scurry back into the break room Buffy grabbed him by the collar. "Not so fast big guy."

"I just make sure the machines stay running all night. I don't know anything!" He was squirming furiously and seemed surprised that the petite blond was holding him up so effortlessly.

Willow was busy looking at the automated systems. Test tubes were being filled, processed and centrifuged in batches. She waved at Buffy who turned the lab worker towards her. "Is this the pacification serum?"

"I don't know." The words were barely out of his mouth when he found himself prone on the counter, his face pressed into the cool surface. "Hey! Ok, it's a new serum, stronger they said. This is the end of the process so it all looks the same to me."

Willow had taken several of the finished samples and stored them in her pack. She leaned down to look the lab worker in the face. "We aren't going to hurt you, but you should know you are working for some very bad people. You might want to think about finding a different job, starting with leaving now. Let me ask you, which way should we go to find where the serum is produced from the donors?"

The young man looked down. "Lower floors. I've never been there." When Buffy let him go, he scurried for the stairs.

Willow looked at her team. "Looks like we go down some more. Let's get the others."

The two teams met back at the elevators. Faith offered without being asked. "Nada. Just offices and shit."

Buffy filled in the others on the lab as they rode the elevator down to the next level. This one was quiet, but there were definitely people. Most of the area was set up like a hospital clinic, with little cubbies divided by curtains. But along one wall behind thick glass were men sleeping on cots.

Kennedy approached the door that led into the bunk area and started to test the lock. It was Tara who stopped her. "Leave them. I've seen men like that before, their aura. They have been pacified. They won't move even if you go in there."

Kennedy looked at Faith and Buffy. Both senior slayers shrugged. "Will? You need anything from them?"

Willow shook her head. "No, we need to find the source for the soldier serum, not them."

"Then I guess we head down to the last level." Buffy sounded grim. "They always put the worst stuff the deepest don't they? Let's go."

The slayers stood three abreast at the doors to the elevator as the group descended to the final level. As the car glided to a stop each glanced at the other and drew weapons carefully in the crowded space. All of their slayer senses were firing.

"Be ready everyone." Buffy warned the others needlessly. They had all seen the appearance of knives and swords at the ready.

Hell broke loose when the doors drew back. The slayers leapt forward into a mass of the mutant soldiers, but these men were different than the ones they had faced at the firehouse. Those had been more like zombies, strong and slow with little thought behind their actions. These creatures were rage personified. They were still strong and not very fast, but they attacked with a fury, completely disregarding their own safety.

The slayers were barely able to make enough space for the others to exit the elevator behind them. Xander and Giles flanked the slayers and engaged more of the mutant soldiers. Tara found herself momentarily stunned by the immediate carnage until Willow took her hand and calmed her through their connection.

Willow had seen slayers fight long enough to know they needed more space. Swords were poor weapons in cramped spaces and were as likely to inflict damage on friendlies as the enemy. She began to incant a spell and felt Tara joining her as soon as she caught on to the intent. Together they formed a semi-circle of force around their five teammates and as they raised their free hands the arc pushed back on the soldiers, moving them from the space and into the adjoining hallway.

The witches left a shield at the entrance to the hall and watched as the mutants pounded at it furiously, grunting and slobbering.

"Ideas?" Buffy asked the group.

"I don't suppose getting the heck out of here counts yet?" Xander panted as he tried to catch his breath.

Buffy looked at Willow with a questioning eyebrow.

"We need samples from one of them." Willow pointed at the collection of mutants crammed into the hallway. "And preferably from the demon source if we can find it."

Kennedy walked closer to the shield which served to stir the mutants into an even greater anger. "It looks like about twenty of them. I think I can see a room down at the end of the hall. Maybe we could push them in there? Give us some room to work?"

Willow looked to Tara and then at their still clasped hands. They still had a lot of power available. "Sure, we can do that."

The witches strode closer to the shield and raised their hands again. Slowly they moved the shield down the hallway, forcing the mutants behind it to move back. Willow could feel the strain starting as they neared the open room. Pushing had used significant energy and keeping the shield up in an open space would be more difficult.

The slayers crowded up behind the witches as they got to the underground room. Using one more push Willow and Tara moved the group into the room and tried to establish an arc around them again. It succeeded with the exception of a gap on one end where a single soldier pushed through into their space.

Faith was the closest and kicked the mutant to the ground. Her sword was moving downward into its chest before Willow's call to 'not kill it' registered in her head. She stood up and looked down at her sword impaling the dead creature before glancing over at the witch and shrugging her shoulders. "Sorry."

"The sample needs to be from one alive." Willow grumbled.

Buffy was evaluating their odds. "That may be difficult Will. There are two dozen here and more in those areas against the wall, if they can get out."

The group looked to where Buffy was pointing and saw that one side of the room was lined with glass enclosures, several containing more of the mutant soldiers. The other side of the room had additional enclosures, but they were empty except for one.

The creatures behind that glass were watching the Scoobies intently. They stood quietly, huge, gray and lumpy. Clearly they were not human, not even partially human.

Willow had followed Tara's focus to the demons and called out to the others. "That's the source, demons behind the glass at three o'clock."

"Let's work our way over there if we can then." Giles was at the rear of the group but was trying to evaluate the situation. He was concerned about the ability of the witches to sustain the shield. It was a powerful protector, but took enormous energy and would eventually tax Tara's and even Willow's resources.

"Willow." Tara barely whispered the word, but it spoke volumes to the redheaded witch. She could feel a slight tremor starting where Tara's hand joined hers and knew Tara's power was draining.

Willow pushed more of her own strength into the connection, but that would only support them temporarily. "Let's move and see how far we can get."

Tara nodded and drew from her deepest resolve. Together they moved the shield and the group toward the enclosure containing the demons. Just as they reached the glass all of the lights went out, leaving them in complete darkness. The group instinctively huddled closer together and reached out to keep a hand on each other.

Willow also realized it was completely silent. The mutant soldiers were no longer grunting or howling and there was no attempt to break down the shield. When Tara slumped to one knee, Willow knew she had to break the connection. It would also allow her to cast a light spell which she could not do while holding the shield. She squeezed Tara's hand and let go, immediately calling out, "Fiat lux."

Save for themselves, the room was empty. Willow's light cast a soft glow in the room, enough for them to see that all of the soldiers were now held in the glass enclosure on the other side of the room from where they stood.

The slayers fanned out, stepping in front of the sweating and exhausted witches. For a moment all was still, but as they listened a light rhythmic clicking became audible, and then louder. Willow helped Tara to her feet and supported her lover as the sound came closer.

Her high heels were tapping out the signal of her arrival before she came into view of the Scoobies. She had chosen her outfit carefully, an expensive tailored suit with a silk blouse. Forgoing the lab coat, she carried a small black bag in one hand. She saw the magickal light glowing in the room and considered extinguishing it, but thought it might provide just the right setting for her entrance. Stepping in front of the group she addressed the woman who had taken the point position thinking to herself that some things never change.

"Hello Buffy."

"Amy? Amy Madison?" Buffy couldn't help but recognize the woman standing before her. She looked just the same, slim, brunette hair styled conservatively. Buffy tried to remember the last time she had seen Amy. It was well before the destruction of Sunnydale. After Willow had de-ratted her and gone on her dark magick binge Amy had been warned to stay away from them all and had disappeared. That had been before Warren had shot her followed by Willow's murderous rage.

Willow quickly decided that Amy's presence was not that surprising. Whoever was producing the mutating serums was using more than simple DNA splicing. The involvement of demons and Warren had demonstrated supernatural elements were involved and she should have realized magicks were fueling the serum creation. There simply weren't that many witches in the world, and those willing to power such an abomination of a spell using dark magick would be very rare.

"You helped create those." Willow stepped up and pointed at the captive soldiers while speaking. "You and Warren, using dark magick." Willow didn't really ask, she just looked to Amy for confirmation.

"Warren had nothing to do with this!" Amy hissed in anger. "The serum is mine. I developed it, infused it with power. They are under my control."

"But you are working with him, for the same master, aren't you?" Willow stepped even closer wondering if she could get to Amy before whatever the other witch had planned transpired.

The additional step had been a mistake. Amy backed up as she chanted and with a wave the group was divided. The three slayers were trapped in the mutant soldier's enclosure and had to immediately began to battle for their lives.

Amy smiled as she looked at the four remaining Scoobies. "Let's give the ladies something to defend. That's all you were ever really good for anyway Harris, bait." Xander too was teleported into the enclosure with the slayers with another wave.

Now Amy felt more confident. "I've been watching you all of course. I know you are weak now Willow, and your friend here is even weaker." Amy stepped closer and looked at Tara through squinted eyes. "I don't know this one. Found a witch you wanted to be friends with Willow? Unlike me? You're not going to keep her as a rat and then abandon her over some silly concept of bad magick versus good magick?"

"What should I do with you?" Amy looked between the two women as Willow stepped protectively closer to the blonde. "Oh, so that's it! Ms. Rosenberg, was I not good enough because I wouldn't let you get in my pants? Well let's see how your girlfriend does with demons on her own."

Willow spun around to find Tara trapped in the enclosure with the scaly gray demons. "Tara!" Running to the glass she faced her lover before flinging a fireball at Amy. The 'fireball' was more like a slightly warm plum which bounced off of Amy with a quiet plop.

"Oh Willow, this is too good. You know you could do more, but you won't use all of your dark power and that just leaves the old man. The librarian who watches. But I was never good enough to hang with Buffy and her sidekick witch was I Mr. Giles? Never invited to be one of the Scoobies."

"Is that what this is Amy? Revenge on us for slighting you as a teenager? Is that really what you want?" Giles remembered Amy from Sunnydale high and had certainly heard about her dealings with Willow during her dark magick period.

"Don't quite have it all put together yet do you Mr. Librarian? It's about power and who has it. Willow showed me that. And then she brought forth my master and he gave me real power. So let's see what we can do with that now." Another wave and she moved Giles to an empty enclosure next to the one containing Tara and the demons.

"So that just leaves us, two witches who were friends a long time ago. Until you decided you were so much better than me. But you did things, dark things, like murdering Warren, bringing Buffy back from the dead. I should thank you. Without your actions I would never have realized my potential." Amy walked toward the enclosure that held Giles. "Maybe I will feel more thankful after you watch all your friends, your lover, die."

Willow had been frozen since her fireball spell had failed. When she saw Tara imprisoned with the demons she didn't know what to do anymore. With Giles in the final cell, Willow shook out of her fugue, "Amy, no!"

Finding herself alone in the open room Willow scanned around. The slayers and Xander were still fighting a continuous stream of the mutant soldiers along the far wall. Amy and Giles were in one enclosure and Tara was standing with her back to the glass in the one with the demons. As Willow watched, one of the hulking gray creatures approached Tara slowly and held out an appendage that looked like a tree trunk.

Willow frantically searched for a door or vent or someway into the space, but there were none. Amy must have been using teleportation for all the transports. The glass encasing each cell was thick and Willow could feel a strong magickal signature woven into the structures that probably made the teleportation easier.

If the demon attacked Tara, Willow knew she would use the only option left to her. She could call on pure dark power and it would be enough to destroy the demons. But there would be a heavy price. The evidence of payment for her last foray into deep darkness was all around her, trying to kill her friends and family. She would not travel that road again except in defense and she would make sure the price was only hers to pay.

Tara had been terrified when she found herself trapped with the demons. They were physically imposing, tall and thick muscled. She could see in their eyes an awareness, a consciousness, as well as fear, sadness and hatred. She tried to center herself and conjure some defense, but her magick was spent. The creatures studied her for several minutes before one began a slow approach, keeping eye contact with her. When it was close enough to strike out with what seemed to be an arm, it stopped and sat back on its haunches like an elephant.

The creature caught her eyes with an intense gaze. Neither she nor the demons had made any attempts at communication, but she found an understanding flowing from the large round eyes locking her in place. The demons had been brought here against their will and imprisoned. They were hungry, alone and had been subjected to Amy's medical experimentation. They were a strong but generally passive race, a perfect source for the original pacification serum.

Tara tried to communicate her apology and sorrow through her return gaze. She could sense the leader intended her no harm, although several of the other creatures behind him were upset. When it seemed they had reached an understanding Tara turned back to look through the glass. She placed her hand up and mouthed to Willow that she was Ok.

Willow shuddered with relief. She mouthed back "are you sure?" When Tara nodded Willow pointed that she was going over to where Amy had joined Giles.

When Willow approached the enclosure the two were trading magickal blows and Giles was not faring well. He was drenched in sweat and many of the bolts Amy was throwing seemed to be getting through his defenses. When Amy saw that Willow was watching a thin smile grew on her face. She blasted Giles with a barrage of magick until the older man was nearly unconscious slumped against a wall.

Amy retrieved the small black bag she had carried with her and walked towards Giles. She kneeled next to him and opened the bag taking out several syringes and laying them on a cloth she placed on the floor. Willow wasn't sure what was going on. Was Amy going to give Giles something to recover so that she could hurt him some more?

A prepped syringe in her hand, Amy showed it to Willow. When she spoke, Willow could hear the words clearly as if the glass wasn't there. "Look at your friends Willow."

When Willow turned toward the slayers, she could see even their supernatural strength was beginning to wane. Xander had stationed himself behind the trio as much as he could and looked completely spent. Suddenly one of the mutant soldiers slipped by Kennedy and ran a knife through Xander's arm, pinning him to the wall.

Buffy stepped back and plunged a sword through the heart of the mutant before he could do any further damage, but Xander was bleeding heavily and slumped to the ground when Buffy pulled out the knife. The slayer had to immediately return to the fight leaving Xander to slow the bleeding with his other hand clamped against the wound.

Hot angry tears filled Willow's eyes as she saw the battle slowly being lost. When she looked up Amy placed the syringe against Giles's arm and pushed the needle in as she depressed the plunger. "Your slayers are going to lose but in the meantime they are taking out too many of my soldiers. This contains the latest, most potent serum yet. I think I'll let them fight Giles next."

The horror of what Amy had done struck Willow just as Giles began to shake. His body seized and rippled, muscles flexing and releasing randomly. He was transforming. His eyes snapped open and with one last moment of awareness he reached out and found another of the syringes Amy had left next to him with his hand. In a flash he had it in his hand and plunged it into Amy's arm and then he was lost to the mutant.

Amy had been busy gloating to Willow. When the needle pierced her skin she was shocked and then disbelief set in as she began to tremble. She screamed out a long wailing "Nooooo" as Giles stood. His angry eyes found the only thing in the enclosure to attack, Amy. The beginning transformation prevented Amy from teleporting away or using magick to defend herself, but her change was not fast enough to stop Giles. He reached down with his now massively muscled arms and wrenched Amy's head with a sickening crack. When he let go of her limp body it was half changed, some muscles bulging, with her head lolling unnaturally from her broken neck.

Willow could feel Amy's magick depart. It was like a dry wind whistling through the desert and blew past her with a scream. Even the mutant soldiers paused for a moment in confusion. Willow extended her senses and found the glass walls were simply glass again and she shattered them with ease, sweeping the shards harmlessly away.

The slayers had used the confusion of the mutant soldiers to quickly finish them off, springing through the open wall to give themselves more room. Willow had anticipated having to fight Giles, but she found his body collapsed on the floor. He was still breathing, but Willow saw the wounds he had sustained fighting Amy with magick were far more severe than she had thought. One on his back had seared through muscle and bone. With sinking realization, the physician in her knew he would not survive, even returned to his natural state.

Willow took the hand of the man who had been like a father to her. She smoothed back the hair on his forehead and straightened his glasses, although they did not fit on his distorted features. He opened his eyes at the touch and grunted, but Willow was surprised to find that in her head she could hear him instructing her in his best watcher voice to take the samples she needed, from him.

When she balked and shook her head, he voiced once more, "hurry." With the slayers now gathered around her, Willow grabbed the pack off of her back and retrieved a sample syringe. Giles didn't flinch as she drew his altered blood and she saw his breathing slow. She crouched over his body and whispered in his ear, "Thank you. A gentleman and a scholar as always." She thought he tried to smile as he drew in a last shuddered breath, and then everything was still.

It was Faith that broke the silence with a roar. She looked the embodiment of the first slayer. Her hair was wild, her clothes torn and she was covered with the blood of the soldiers and some of her own. She looked around the room with wild eyes until she focused on the gray demons slowly emerging from their enclosure. She hefted her sword and ran at them bellowing with rage and loss.

Tara saw Faith coming and knew she couldn't stop the slayer, but she had to try. These gentle creatures had done her no harm when they could have. She stepped in front of them and yelled at Faith to stop, but the slayer didn't even seem to hear her. Tara flung her body at the enraged slayer and succeeded in knocking her down, but in her fury Faith raised her sword above Tara as the blonde screamed out, "Willow!"

Willow had just enough time and strength to deflect the sword blow with magick. That allowed Buffy and Kennedy to restrain Faith until she collapsed sobbing into them. Tara found herself in Willow's arms being embraced fiercely. Tara peeled herself away and stood, never letting go of Willow's hand. She nodded to the leader of the demons who returned the gesture before gathering his group into a small circle. The demons began to hum and after a moment a light emerged in the center of the circle and one by one they entered the light and vanished.

It was Tara who saw Xander still sitting against the wall in the far enclosure. She squeezed Willow's hand and they ran to him, fear filling them at the sight of so much blood running down his arm.

"Hey ladies. We won, right?" Xander joked, even the words causing him to grimace.

Willow tried to smile at her friend. "Yeah, don't we always? Now let me take a look at that arm."

As soon as Xander moved his fingers, more blood spurted from the wound. Willow knew the knife had hit an artery. She ran for her pack and found a pressure bandage in the first aid kit. When she got back she found Tara holding the arm and a soft glow surrounding her hands.

It was only a minute until Tara weakened and fainted, but the blood loss had slowed to a trickle and stopped entirely when Willow wrapped the bandage around Xander's arm.

Buffy approached as Willow was finishing. "We need to get out of here. Will, you got what you need? Xander, can you walk?" After both questions were answered in the affirmative Buffy pointed to Tara. "I'll carry her, Will, you help Xander."

The wounded group gathered together near Giles. Faith lifted the watcher over her shoulder. "I'm not leaving him here."

Quickly they retraced their steps back to the warehouse and into the waiting van. No one else had appeared to stop them. Buffy took the wheel and Xander the passenger seat, cradling his bandaged arm. Faith laid Giles's mutant body in the back and Willow held the now awakening Tara in her arms.

It was left for Kennedy to complete the final task. As Buffy started the engine and they pulled away, the youngest slayer pushed the red button on the trigger for several charges she had left along the way during their retreat. She smiled as the dark night was pierced by bright red explosions that left the PAI facility a smoldering ruin.


	17. Chapter 17-Scientist Witch

Chapter Seventeen- Scientist Witch

For five seconds Willow was filled with the amazing sensation of awakening in Tara's arms. She was safe, warm and loved. Then she remembered. The PAI production facility, the battle, Amy, and Giles. The battered group had returned to the firehouse with the now deformed body of the head of the Watcher's Council who had also served as mentor and substitute father to each of them through the years. Thankfully Riley had seen the explosion on the news and come to the firehouse fearful of casualties. He offered to make the appropriate contacts and find a funeral home that wouldn't ask questions to cremate the remains immediately. Giles had been clear about his wishes.

After checking that Xander's wound had stopped bleeding and tending to everyone's cuts and scrapes as necessary, exhaustion had sent them all to find some sleep. When Willow awoke early she knew it was partially residual adrenaline. She had only gotten four hours of rest, but she had work to do.

Willow slipped quietly from the bed and Tara did not stir. That was a first and indicated just how drained the blonde witch was from her spell casting and healing the night before. Willow hoped she would rest peacefully for several more hours. When they finally collapsed into bed, Willow had clung to her lover and wept quietly. She knew Tara had only just met Giles but still wept her own tears, unwilling to block her empathic senses from absorbing some of Willow's overwhelming sorrow.

Willow tiptoed from the room after slipping on a pair of jeans and a shirt. She was a little surprised to find Buffy sitting in the kitchen nursing both a collection of colorful bruises and a cup of coffee. Willow headed over and filled a mug before sitting down across from her friend.

"How are you doing?"

Buffy looked up and Willow could see the agony deep in her eyes, but Giles's first slayer still tried to smile. "All kinds of crappy." Buffy's face dropped back towards her cup again. "I think I'm a little bit in shock. I mean, it's Giles. He was always my rock, our rock, you know?"

"I know." Willow felt the tears coming back, but she wanted to be strong for Buffy. "Did you get some sleep?"

"Some. I woke up and helped Riley get him moved to the funeral home. Then I called Dawn. She's on her way over." Buffy said the last part with a sigh.

"Did you tell her?" Willow knew Dawn would be just as upset as the rest of them.

"Yes. I also told her what was going on. She went into 'investigative reporter' mode. She's bringing one of her editors over so they can get all the details on PAI, get the word out on what these bastards are doing." When Willow raised an eyebrow Buffy held up one palm. "All the details minus the demon part of course."

"Tara could help. She wanted to tell someone in the press about the pacified farm workers." Willow took one last gulp of her coffee. "I have to get started analyzing the serum samples. I don't know how fast they might degrade." After she stood up she walked around the table and leaned down into Buffy for a long hug. Both women found they had wet cheeks, but they also knew now was not the time to break down. "How are the others, Faith? Kennedy?"

Buffy sighed again. "Ken seems ok; you know how resilient she is. Faith isn't doing well; she's keeping it all in. I think she and Giles got really close these last few years. I'm afraid she is going to really lose it."

Willow gave Buffy's shoulder a quick squeeze. "We'll be here for her."

* * *

The door to Willow's office opened several hours later as Tara came through carrying a tray of sandwiches and drinks. "Don't even try to argue with me, you are taking a break. I know you haven't eaten anything." She set the tray down on the table next to the love seat and sat down.

Willow came over and gave Tara a long kiss. "No argument. I don't know if I can eat, but I'll try." She grabbed a drink and sat down next to Tara, leaning into her, needing to feel the comfort of her presence. "Did you get some rest?"

Tara immediately began stroking her hair. "Yes, although I didn't like waking up and finding you gone. Lucky for you Buffy told me where you were."

"Sorry. I had to start on the samples. I didn't want everything we fought for last night to go to waste." Willow growled in frustration. "Unfortunately I have done all I can here. I need a lab to finish the analysis, a real lab. If I could get two or three hours at work I could use the DNA sequencer, but my access has been revoked."

"We'll figure something out." Tara grabbed a sandwich from the tray. "A few bites, for me?"

Willow nodded and took the food. "What is everyone doing?"

As Willow ate, Tara relayed how Dawn and the newspaper editor interviewed her about the farm workers, leaving out all mention of vampires and evil warlocks. Buffy had then told them about the 'rumors' they had heard that the serum was made with altered DNA and the workers were permanently changed. The editor had discovered PAI was not only using prisoners, but picking up the homeless and runaways for their new projects involving manufacturing plants and military production. The editor had left excited that this was a huge story but he still needed more solid evidence before running it.

Willow had been lulled by Tara's soothing voice. She snapped up at the sound of Faith yelling in the main room. When the witches emerged they found Faith pummeling a heavy bag in the corner while Kennedy watched. The younger slayer put a finger to her lips to keep the witches quiet. When Willow's cell phone rang, she stepped back into her office to answer.

It was Elise. "Willow, what the hell is going on? Pierce is freaking out, even Banks is flustered. This has something to do with the PAI related deaths doesn't it? Now the explosion?"

"Hey, you sound like me!" Willow laughed. "Yes, it is related and Pierce is in deep." Willow had an idea. "Elise? I need you to do something for me. It's against the rules and probably illegal."

Elise paused for only a second before answering. "What can I do to help?"

"I need access to the lab tonight. Can you leave the morgue door propped open so I can get in? I don't want you to stay, that could be dangerous. Just prop the door and go home." Willow needed help, but she didn't want to endanger her friend who was unaware of the demon world.

Elise had no intention of leaving her friend alone, but figured Willow didn't need to know that yet. "I'll take care of the door. You'll tell me what this is all about?"

"I will, I promise." Willow heard a soft explosion from the other room. "Elise I've got to go. Thanks for helping, don't let it get you in trouble."

Willow ran out of her office and felt Tara's arms reach around her waist and pull her close. "Shhh."

Faith was slumped into the corner of the room, the remnants of the punching bag scattered around her on the floor. Kennedy sat beside her as the dark slayer cried quietly.

Tara put her chin on Willow's shoulder. "I think she needed to let it out."

Willow nodded and let her body melt back into Tara. She understood what Faith was feeling, the sadness and frustration. They just stood that way for several minutes until Faith dried her eyes and stood up.

"Hey Faith? I need your help tonight, you available?" Willow stepped forward and asked the slayer quietly.

"What you got going Red?" Faith wiped her eyes again quickly as she walked over towards the witches.

"Can't promise excitement, but I need to go to the lab at my office to work on the serum samples. I could use some muscle, maybe a bodyguard." Willow reached out and squeezed Faith's arm smiling.

"Yeah, well bodyguard is not really my thing, but you are still as scrawny as ever Red. Somebody should watch out for you. I guess I could do that for one night." The slayers headed for the stairs together. "See you after dark."

When the witches got back to Willow's room Tara pulled Willow to the bed and sat her down on the edge, standing between her thighs and running her hands through soft red hair until Willow purred like a kitten.

"That feels nice."

Tara added a few kisses to the top of her head. "That was kind of you, to ask Faith to go with you tonight. I know you didn't necessarily need Faith, but you saw she needed something to keep her busy."

"I've known Faith a long time. She and I have both had rough spots in life, but I've seen how hard she has worked to overcome her mistakes. I admire that. And a bodyguard never hurts." Now Tara was leaning over to place small kisses on the sensitive tops of Willow's ears, placing her breasts at Willow's eye level. "Hmmmm. Is this my reward?"

Tara laughed lightly and slipped down to her knees. "Maybe." Long fingers began to undo the buttons on Willow's shirt. "Or maybe I just want to make love to you." After Tara slipped the shirt from Willow's shoulders and stripped off her bra she looked up with cobalt eyes. "Will you let me make love to you Willow? I didn't really get a chance the other night and I want to give that to you."

Willow tilted her head back as she felt Tara begin to gently roll her nipples between her thumbs and fingers. She was lost in a blissful haze where everything but Tara was blurred background and only her lover's light shone out. "I feel like I'm in the midst of this craziness and loving you, being loved by you, is the one thing I know I can get right, the only thing that makes sense."

Tara pulled her hands away and reached down to slip off Willow's shoes and socks and gave a sexy smile at the groan that escaped the redhead's lips at the loss of contact. Next Tara's hand found Willow's waistband and she pealed her jeans open as Willow lifted her ass so that Tara could scoot jeans and panties off her body.

As soon as Willow was naked Tara moved back between her legs and began to kiss and taste the pert breasts before her. Willow's nipples were still erect and when she didn't move her mouth to one immediately Tara found a hand at the back of her neck encouraging her to do so. Tara knew at a different time she would resist and tease her lover to distraction, but today was about grounding her, making her whole.

As soon as she engulfed one breast with her mouth and began to work the nipple with her tongue and teeth Tara had to move one hand to Willow's back to hold her up. She wanted Willow right where she was for now. As she moved her mouth from one breast to the other Tara could feel Willow start to squirm. The scent of fresh arousal drifted up from between the redhead's open legs and Tara moaned at the jolt that registered in her mind and coursed down to her own center. She was making Willow feel this way and it turned her on more than she had ever thought possible.

Tara shrugged her own shirt off as she kissed Willow's firm abdomen and the tops of her thighs. In one swift move she had the redhead's legs over her shoulders and Willow fell back onto her elbows on the bed. "I want to see your eyes, can you watch me?" Tara asked as she kissed her way up the sensitive skin of Willow's inner thighs.

As Tara got closer to her goal Willow's head lolled back and her eyes closed of their own volition. Tara gave a small nip to the skin she was kissing and it seemed to clear Willow's mind enough to respond. "Goddess yes, I love to look at you."

Willow wondered how Tara's eyes could turn an even darker shade of blue, but then she stopped wondering anything as Tara's tongue moved through her wetness and made every nerve ending fire before even touching her clitoris. Tara sampled and savored and moved inside and then out again until Willow was a moaning mass of sensation.

When Willow's hips began to buck into her face seeking pressure on that exquisite swollen bundle Tara knew it was time. She gripped Willow's ass with both hands tightly as she swirled her tongue around and then sucked in her clit. Willow rose up until only her forearms and hands were on the bed as waves of orgasm rippled down her body. She held Tara to her sex with ankles clasped behind the blonde's neck as she shuddered and called out her lover's name again and again.

When Willow finally collapsed back onto the bed Tara gently slid out from under her now limp legs and climbed on the bed. She helped Willow scooch up and was not surprised when her breast became a pillow. It had quickly become Willow's favorite snuggle spot and Tara secretly loved it too. "Sleep sweetie, I'll wake you in time for dinner and your evening adventure."

It was all Willow could do to whisper "I love you," before sleep claimed her.

* * *

Willow's smile at finding the back morgue door propped open lasted for only seconds after she entered the room and found Elise waiting for her in the dark space.

"You aren't supposed to be here!" Willow hissed at her friend. "You could get fired for this."

Before Elise could answer Faith appeared at Willow's side. "Is there a problem?"

Willow scowled at the other medical examiner who continued to stare back defiantly. "Faith, this is Elise, she is a colleague and friend. Elise, this is Faith. She's a, uh, an old friend of mine."

Faith laughed lightly at the description. "Aww Red, I didn't know you cared."

"I'm here and I bet you could use some help unless your 'friend' Faith here is scientist." Elise was looking over the dark slayer in her black leather pants and jacket and thought not. "I also bet you don't have time to be arguing with me."

Faith curled her lip and raised one eyebrow at Elise but didn't respond.

After a long moment of visual standoff Willow relented. "Fine. I could use the help. But if anyone comes near the lab Faith is going to signal us and you are going to get the heck out of here, got it?"

The three women moved through the morgue and past the cooler that contained the cases waiting for autopsy the next day. Willow glanced through the window in the cooler door and saw rows of carts containing body bags. "Been busy?"

Elise nodded. "Increase in strange accidental deaths and neck wounds over the last few days."

Faith bumped Willow in the hip as they continued on. When the witch turned towards her she saw the slayer point at the cooler and mouth "vampires."

They saw no sign of the one night security guard as they made their way to the laboratory portion of the building. The labs were strictly 8-5 and locked up tight. Elise unlocked the door with her security access card.

"Well here we are. Now you want to tell me why are we in the DNA lab in the middle of the night?"

The doctors got down to business with Willow explaining that she needed to sequence samples from individuals in a different PAI program that was more dangerous than the pacification serum. As they prepped the samples and set the equipment to run Willow gave Elise the 'non-demon' version of what had been happening and James Pierce's involvement.

"That fucking fucker. He knew you were on to him. That's why he's been so desperate to get you fired." Elise started the sequencer with a slap to the on switch.

Willow could only agree. "Yes. But he is dealing with things way over his head. People with power he doesn't understand. It's hard to feel sorry for him, but it will probably go badly for him in the end."

Faith had been quietly prowling around the space during the preparation. Now she returned to where the doctors were standing. "I'm going to go for a quick patrol. You know Red, make sure none of those problems arise in the morgue cooler?"

"Sure Faith, just be careful and don't let anyone see you. The sequence will take a while to run. We'll be hunkered down here." Willow watched Faith's eyes roll as she talked.

"Yes Mom. I'll look both ways before I cross the street." But even with the dripping sarcasm Faith gave Willow a little grin before gliding from the room like a shadow.

"She's different. You've never mentioned Faith before." Elise found something about the other woman slightly frightening in an undefined way.

"She lives in Cleveland. I knew her back in Sunnydale. She's good at the stealthy stuff and wanted to help me out tonight." Willow hoped her smart friend wouldn't ask too many questions about the dark slayer.

"You have some unusual acquaintances Dr. Rosenberg." Elise slid down to sit with her back to one of the lab benches. "We have some time, so tell me, how is Tara?"

Willow was thrilled for the distraction and Tara as the topic? Well, that was her happy place. For the next half hour she carried on like a giddy schoolgirl telling Elise about the rooftop date. She was about to start in on how generally amazing Tara was when they both heard the soft beep of an access card opening the door lock.

Any hope that it was just night security who would glance around in the dark and leave was short lived when the lights came on and several sets of feet walked into the room.

"Elise I know you are in here. Is your friend Rosenberg here too? You badged in an hour ago but haven't used your access card to get out."

It was Pierce. Both women scowled at the realization that they were busted. Elise started to get up, but Willow pushed her back down and grabbed the lanyard from around her neck that contained her access card.

"It was me James." Willow called out as she jumped up and hurried towards the group of men. "I stole her card to get in." Willow could only hope that Elise stayed out of sight and took the opportunity to keep quiet.

James was standing in the open area by the door. Behind him were four men, all wearing dark coats which contrasted starkly with their very pale skin. Willow wondered if he knew they were vampires.

"Oh perfect. Soon to be ex-medical examiner Rosenberg. Scratch that, soon to be ex-physician Rosenberg. I'll have your license taken away, or maybe you'll be jailed for breaking and entering." James Pierce was almost gleeful as he rambled off the options for busting Willow.

Willow on the other hand was hoping she could get James and the vampires out of the room. Then Elise could stay hidden and finish the analysis. Elise would understand what to do when she saw the results. Walking towards the door Willow loudly exaggerated a sigh. "Let's go down to the security office. You can call whoever you need to from there James."

Willow was steps from the door when it flew inward. She expected to see Faith fly in wielding stakes, but it wasn't the dark slayer. It was two more vampires, but not ordinary ones. These men were dressed in expensive dark suits with ties and polished shoes. They reeked of confidence and Willow assessed they were probably old and experienced. With a shudder Willow thought they reminded her of Angelus. Now there were six vampires and still no Faith. Where had she gone?

One of the suited vamps went to James's side in a flash. "Dr. Pierce. Our mutual employer requests your presence. We have a limousine waiting outside."

James gasped and shook his head a little. "I'm not going anywhere right now. I am dealing with a very important matter. A task personally assigned by Mr. Flint."

The second vampire laughed. "Mr. Flint will be joining us as well. You and he both owe our Master some answers."

Now James looked angry and indignant. "I don't answer to you, and I certainly don't answer to any Master." James turned at looked at Willow. "Come with me."

James strode to the door before he noticed Willow had not moved. He was forming another rant in his head when he noticed a dark haired woman running down the hall towards the lab. She was moving so fast he hadn't even called out before she was standing in front of him.

Willow saw Faith with James at the door and almost laughed out loud. How many people and demons were coming to her stealth operation? James had obviously been monitoring the security system for the office and came to bust Elise when she used her access card late at night. He had brought four vampires with him, but didn't seem to know that they were demons. Now two more vamps wanted to take James from the building and Faith had finally arrived to complete this total disaster. Could this get any worse?

Oh Goddess, she hadn't actually said that in her mind had she? Because, in true Scooby fashion she knew it could and would. Faith had been running towards the lab, but she wasn't alone. Another half dozen vampires were hot on her trail and Willow could hear them noisily coming down the hall.

"What the hell?" Faith looked surprised to find the room already crowded as she pushed past the clueless man standing in the doorway.

Now James was staring slack jawed at the slobbering pack of newly risen vamps nearing the door. The first one lunged at him before he stepped back into the lab allowing one of the suited vamps to step up and rip the demon's head from its shoulders, leaving a sprinkling of dust to filter to the floor while growling, "We don't have time for this nonsense."

The remaining newbies stopped short at the dusting. The suited vampire snapped his fingers and his counterpart grabbed James and shoved him towards the door. "Take care of those two." The order was directed to the vampires James had brought with him and the four turned towards Faith and Willow snarling with vamped out faces.

"I wish we could stay Slayer. I would love to taste your blood. But we all have our orders. Let's see if you can handle nine of my brethren with your puny friend." The suited vamps each took one arm and marched James through the throng of newbies. Willow could hear his cries of astonishment and discomfort as he was escorted roughly down the hall.

"You had to bring more with you?" Willow asked Faith even as she readied a fire spell.

"What, you not up for the challenge? Getting soft out here on the gay coast?" Faith laughed as the newbie vamps started to crowd the door. "Morgue was crawling. How about I clear outta here and take some of them with me?"

Before Willow could answer Faith had flip vaulted over the four vampires in the lab and was running directly into and then through the newbies. Willow heard the soft swish of a kill and then the dark slayer's boots were pounding away as she taunted, "Come and get me boys!"

The four vampires in the lab looked at each other and silently agreed to split, with two headed out after Faith and the newbies leaving two remaining. "I guess we're the lucky ones. Just us two to share in this tasty treat."

As they moved towards her Willow had to resist rolling her eyes. Two vampires were hardly a challenge. She could have used both hands to create and fling fireballs simultaneously, but it was more fun to take out one at a time. The look on the last vamps face after his associate fried was worth the small increase in risk. "Really powerful witch here, small pile of ash where you are."

After the second fireball Willow was ready to go see if Faith needed any help, but the DNA sequencer began to chirp indicating the run was complete. Willow turned to head over to the machine and almost tripped on Elise who was crouched down next to her. She had obviously crawled from the back to the front of the lab during the action and had now watched Willow burn two vampires with fire from her hands.

"Wha? How? Oh my god, is your friend going to be ok with all those things after her?" Elise looked stunned, but Willow was impressed that she could mentally process enough to worry about Faith. She reached down and helped her to her feet.

"Faith will be fine. She's a vampire slayer and I'm a witch. We fight the forces of darkness, and now so do you." Willow smiled. "Let's get the samples and DNA results and get out of here. I'll explain everything, the real everything at the firehouse, ok?"


	18. Chapter 18-God and Master

Chapter Eighteen-God and Master

Faith arrived back at the firehouse thirty minutes after Willow and Elise. She found the entire gang waiting in the second floor common area with Willow filling in Elise on the true nature of their work while the two scientists evaluated the DNA results from the samples they had obtained.

Buffy saw her counterpart first. "Glad to see you back and in one piece. I heard you had a crowd of devoted followers, how'd it go?"

Faith scoffed. "Mostly newbies not worth their weight in dust. The other two were slightly challenging, no big." Faith grabbed a bag of chips and sunk down into an armchair. "So Red, what was the deal with the seasoned ones in the dark suits taking that guy away? You didn't seem to want a piece of that fight so I let them go."

Willow dropped her head slightly before she answered. "I was worried the old vamps would be too much with all of the others. Honestly I'm not proud of letting them take James, but he was an added complication I didn't need and he got himself into trouble. It didn't sound like they were going to kill him, just take him to this 'master' we keep hearing about."

"You killed all of those things? Those vampires that took off after you?" Elise was looking at Faith with awe. She had sensed something different about the woman in leather and now she realized it was power. She was like a taut bowstring ready to release, but covered with an air of nonchalance.

"We use the term 'slayed', but yeah, I took care of the undead." Faith smiled through a mouthful of snacks. "Did you know your morgue was full of baby vampires waiting to rise?"

Elise shook her head. "That's never happened before. Every once in a while a body disappears and there is a big investigation, but nothing like a whole cooler full."

"Sounds like somebody is turning a big crop. We should do some patrols with everyone we have, slayers, witches, maybe get some of Riley's troops to assist." Everyone nodded agreeing with Buffy.

"I can't help but think this is related to everything else that is going on. We've got a serious big bad here, and I don't mean Warren, although he is undeniably dangerous. We need to figure out who is the wizard behind the screen." Willow threw out to the group.

Tara had been quietly listening as she sat next to Willow on the couch. She was still trying to get her emotions under control after hearing about the vampire attack at the lab. Willow had been in danger and she had been at the firehouse hanging out and chatting with Xander and Anya. Her love had been defending herself with fireballs and she had been laughing at stories about a young Willow. Well, now maybe she could contribute.

"Maybe Willow and I could do a locator spell. We could call on Thespia and focus on demonic power in the area. Maybe something would stand out?"

Willow turned with a huge grin on her face. "That is a great idea! Do you know what we will need?"

Tara smiled shyly as everyone turned towards her. "Yes, but a couple of the ingredients are unusual. I'm sure the Waxing Moon carries them. Then we just need a map of the area."

Anya groaned. "I suppose that means a middle of the night trip to the shop for supplies." When no one argued with her Anya poked Xander in the side. "Come on big guy, you're driving me and the lesbian witch."

Tara started to get up but she had to say something to Willow first. "Sweetie? You're not going out on patrol tonight are you?"

Willow leaned over and kissed her softly. "I won't. Elise and I need to finish analyzing these results. I'll let the slayers and soldiers do their thing tonight. Besides, we have a spell to do when you get back."

Soon Buffy and Faith had divided up the slayers with some of Riley's troops and headed out to patrol the city, leaving Willow and Elise alone at the firehouse. The two spread out the data from the DNA sequencer on the large table.

Elise was trying to focus on the task at hand, but her mind was whirling. "So, you're a witch, Tara's a witch, Buffy, Faith and those other girls are vampire slayers, which means vampires are real. And Anya and Xander?"

Willow couldn't help but laugh lightly at the description. "I know it's crazy, and you are doing a good job not just screaming and running away. Not that I'd blame you if you did. To answer your question Anya used to be a vengeance demon for about a thousand years, but now she is just a regular human, well maybe not so much regular, but she is human. Xander? He is my best friend since we were kids and an experienced demon fighter. Too much?"

Elise looked contemplative for a moment before she answered. "No. Let's face it; we see some really weird stuff in our line of work. I'll try to concentrate on the science, that I know."

They studied the printouts for hours until the sequences became blurs of frustration.

"Ok, I've marked the obvious human code with yellow and the demon with red, but I still don't understand these intermediate sections." Willow pointed as she spoke.

Elise looked over the areas Willow was indicating. "It's as if the DNA is drifting, almost fluid in these areas. It's definitely not human, but it doesn't look stable like the clearly demon parts either. And there are three wavy lines in all of these areas instead of human two stranded DNA and it is intermixed with these other designs. "

"Who could do this? The scientists at PAI were harvesting the demon DNA and splicing, but this is something else, binding the other areas together." Willow groaned. Maybe she was just too tired to see it. "Listen, it is really late. You should get home to your family."

Elise started to argue, but Willow was right. She had done as much as she could for now. "I don't want to sound like a wimp, but is it safe?"

"I'll call Riley, have someone from his team keep an eye on your house. You also have my phone number and Buffy's. If anything, and I mean anything happens or just seems wrong, you call." Willow gave her friend a long hug. "I couldn't have done this without you tonight. You put yourself in danger for me and I won't forget it. We are a crazy but loyal bunch and we look out for the good guys, and that means you now, so thank you."

Elise called a cab and left the firehouse just as Tara was returning with Anya and Xander. They exchanged goodnights and Tara found Willow still hunched over the printouts looking at them with tired eyes. She was tracing the mystery sections of the DNA sequences with her finger and making notes and sketches on a separate pad.

Tara walked quietly to Willow's side and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey beautiful. Still working hard?"

Willow stopped and draped her arms over Tara's shoulders. "Unfortunately yes. Elise just left. We figured out most of the sequence, but there are segments that don't make any sense to us. I'm taking notes on them now, maybe I can figure it out in the morning with fresh eyes." Willow laid her forehead down on Tara's shoulder. "Did you get everything you need for the spell?"

"Yes. But we can do that in the morning as well. No magick when you are so tired. It's been a long night, let's go to bed sweetie." Tara was expecting an argument, but Willow just leaned into her instead. "Take me to bed baby."

"We are going to sleep, you know that right?" Tara said as she guided Willow to her room with an arm around her waist.

"Fine." Willow's bottom lip protruded in a major pout. "Can we at least have some smoochies?"

Tara's lip curled in a sexy smile. "I hope so."

* * *

Midmorning the next day the group reassembled in the common area. Everyone had gotten at least a few hours of sleep, but the sense of urgency was growing. Buffy, Faith and Kennedy had all taken small teams of Riley's soldiers to various parts of the city and had all found similar circumstances. Someone was taking huge risks to create as many vampires as possible.

"I've never seen so many newbies. They were reckless and stupid, but a couple times they almost overpowered us with sheer numbers." Kennedy was feeling guilty. One of the soldiers with her had been bit and was in the hospital.

"Sounds like it is time for us to get on that spell. Should light up like a demonic non-christian Christmas tree from the sound of the vampire parade." Willow had already informed everyone where she stood on her DNA research.

Before the group broke up Riley arrived with more bad news. "I have a report from my guys guarding the mutant soldiers we are still holding from the firehouse attack. They are changing, becoming more aggressive and violent. They have no concern for hurting themselves. We are having to use darts to sedate them, but I don't know how much longer we can do that."

Riley's comments brought Willow back to her thoughts about the DNA sequences and she went to grab her notebook. She showed Riley and the slayers the symbols she had jotted down from the unknown parts of the DNA, but none of them recognized anything. Willow slumped back down next to Tara and dropped the notebook in her lap, open to her notes. "Well, it was worth a try. I really miss Giles for stuff like this. Maybe I can get a computer match."

Tara had been listening carefully, but didn't really have anything to add to the discussion. She, Anya and Xander had gone to the shop and back uneventfully. She looked down at Willow's notes without really focusing. She idly traced several of the drawings with her finger for several minutes until Willow suggested they go try the spell.

"Willow?" Something was coming together in Tara's mind, a slow dawning realization.

"Yes my love?" Willow reached down and stroked her fingers over the back of Tara's hand as it traced over her notes.

"These drawings, they are familiar, I recognize them somehow." Tara was trying to keep her mind clear, but she could feel Willow's hand clench over the top of hers.

"How can I help?" Willow asked quietly. She could see Tara was struggling to concentrate.

"Maybe if I could study the original? Someplace quiet where I could meditate."

Willow took her by the hand and stood up. "Of course. I'll grab the printouts and we can go to my office."

Once they were downstairs Willow set the papers on the floor and Tara dropped to sit cross-legged before them. Willow showed her the areas that she had drawn in the notebook.

"Can you give me a few minutes to meditate?" Tara was already focusing on the designs.

Willow kissed her on the top of the head. "Take your time; I'll study the locater spell and get it prepped, focus on what kind of demonic and other supernatural activity is prowling around Northern California."

Tara sunk into a light meditative state. She let the images flow over her mind. Looking at the original printout she could see a pattern of sort. Repeating areas of three wavy lines interspersed with designs, one of which looked like a piece of grain. At the end of each segment two lines curved together like an ellipse, or like an eye without the iris. It felt powerful, bonding the human and the demon, but not itself either.

She came back to consciousness with gentle hands on her shoulders. "Tara? I'm so sorry but it's been hours. I didn't want to interrupt but I couldn't take it anymore and I got worried that something was wrong. Is something wrong?" Willow was biting her lip as she spoke.

Tara felt groggy, like she had taken a long nap in the middle of the day. Usually mediation left her feeling light and energetic, but she was a little tired. "No, everything is fine. It's been hours? Really? It seemed like just a few minutes." She had been close, but something was keeping her from the answer. "Maybe we should just do the spell. I can come back to this later." Tara reached up and kissed Willow until she heard a quiet moan and pulled back.

"Is it ready?" Tara asked as she tried to get her stiff legs to move.

Willow was standing with her mouth slightly open and glazed eyes. "What?"

Tara smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "The spell sweetie. Did you get everything ready?"

Willow blushed as she regained her focus. "Oh, yes. All prepped. I'll get the map."

The witches settled down with a large detailed map of the area between them. They alternated the lines of the incantation.

"Thespia, we walk in shadow, walk in blindness. You are the protector of the night. Thespia, goddess, ruler of all darkness, we implore you, open a window to the world of the underbeing. With your knowledge may we go in safety. With your grace may we speak of your benevolence."

When they both blew the powder over the map it was clear Willow's description of a Christmas tree was an understatement. The city lit up with similarly colored yellow lights and a few darker red ones. The yellow lights were probably vampires and the red ones other demons. The lights were more sparse further out in the more rural areas as expected.

As the powder settled on the far edge of the map suddenly a multitude of lights appeared in a cluster, yellow and red and other colors in various shades. Tara knew immediately where the cluster was located. She had spent countless hours there in her youth and had been held prisoner by Warren. It was the caves behind her farm.

The seconds ticked by as both witches watched the lights at the edge of the map multiply before their eyes. Then in the center of the cluster a dark red glow began, almost black, growing and spreading as it engulfed the lights. It took shape, forming lines at the edges which drew together at the ends. The red glow became an iris and the completed eye began searching until it found Willow and held her in its uniocular vision.

Willow was transfixed. The eye was reaching into her mind, scanning her thoughts and feelings. She was completely vulnerable, unable to break the connection even as the presence touched the core of her magickal abilities, evaluating her strengths and weaknesses. She felt a tug and then a pull on her source and realized she was being drained.

Tara saw the forced connection between the eye on the map and Willow. Initially she was reluctant to break her own connection with Willow through the spell, but she saw that whatever power had taken over it was overwhelming. As she broke free she was already thinking of any possible spell to break the trance, but nothing magickal came to her mind. When she saw Willow's head dipping down towards the map she could feel the draining begin. She did the only thing she could think of; she physically knocked Willow back away from the map landing on top of her and trying to protect her with her body.

A noise and smell caught her attention and Tara barely had time to jump up and tug Willow away from the now burning map. The eye whirled around seeking Willow again. When it found she was lost the eye smoldered for a moment before the map blazed and the powder flared into the air. The items burned quickly and settled into ash on the floor.

Tara held Willow where she had landed, the redhead half over her lap groaning quietly. "Willow? It's alright now. Come back to me sweetie." Tara sat Willow up so she could hold her around the waist and stroke and kiss her face. She was leaning back against the desk and Tara continued to speak quietly, holding Willow close.

When Willow didn't respond after several minutes Tara began to panic, tears filling her eyes. Should she get help? Buffy was probably upstairs, but she didn't want to leave Willow alone. She turned Willow's face up to try and look into her eyes and saw the flutter of eyelids. "Willow? Please, I need you. Follow my voice; I'm right here with you. You're safe now."

"Tara?" The word was half-garbled, but was accompanied by the redhead reaching up for Tara's face, blindly stroking her fingertips over familiar features and finding a trail of wetness running down one cheek.

Tara grabbed Willow's hand and frantically kissed her palm. "I was so frightened. What happened? The locater spell worked and then there was an eye and it bound you somehow. Do you remember?"

Willow curled her body even more into Tara's as she concentrated on her memory. "It was powerful, I couldn't break free. It was in my mind searching and then it started to drain me." Suddenly she sat up and looked into Tara's face with amazement. "How did you free me? You saved me!"

Tara grinned with embarrassment. "I sort of just knocked you over and pulled you away. I didn't know what else to do; I was so afraid I was going to lose you."

Willow kissed her gently and left their foreheads touching. "Thank you. You are getting to be quite the monster fighter you know."

Tara relaxed a little hearing Willow's teasing voice. "What could get into your mind like that Willow? Was it Warren? Or a demon?"

"I don't think so; it was too powerful, even for a witch. It was more like, well I've only felt something that strong once before, and she was a hell god." Willow closed her eyes as she remembered the dark time that had been the Scooby's battle with Glory and the aftermath leading to the resurrection of Buffy.

"A god?" Tara said the words as a question, but her breath caught in her throat as all of the pieces slammed together in her mind. "Not any god." The map, the eye, was the same as she had seen in Willow's notes, in the DNA sequence. The wavy lines and other designs, they were hieroglyphs. Stylized and concealed within the scientific notations.

Willow pulled back seeing the knowledge written on Tara's face. "What god?"

"The DNA sequence you couldn't understand? It's embedded with hieroglyphs, Egyptian. That's what I was seeing. I studied ancient Egyptian. The three wavy lines represent the eternal river Nile and there were seed grains for rebirth. The eye is the Egyptian god who oversees death and protects the process of rebirth. A god you called on once." Tara's eyes were full of sadness and concern.

Willow heard the words as Tara spoke them. They settled into her with a knowing, an understanding of what they had all been missing until now. The final piece of the puzzle, the identity of the master. Her voice tried to work, but all that came out was a one word whisper.

"Osiris."


	19. Chapter 19-The Orchard at Dusk

Chapter Nineteen-The Orchard at Dusk

"I feel like I'll never be free of my mistakes. I really thought the events of Sunnydale were in the past, that when the city was destroyed it gave us all a clean slate. I changed my life here, worked hard to be a good friend, a good doctor. But it doesn't matter. Something I did a dozen years ago has resulted in an angry god who apparently wants vengeance on me, everyone else in California, and probably the world."

Willow was curled into the smallest ball she could form by tucking her arms and legs into her body while talking to Tara who was leaning on the edge of her desk across the room. She was on one half of the loveseat in her office where she had been since informing everyone what she and Tara had discovered.

The Scoobies plus others had met her announcement with a weary determination. They all agreed it made grim sense. No ordinary demon could bring witches, humans, and vampires together working for a common goal. But Osiris? God of the underworld, judge of the dead, lord of the river Nile representing eternal resurrection? He was fully capable of providing whatever power was necessary for his plans, whatever those were.

No one was sure what the end game was yet, but the god had made it clear he was not acting in the best interests of the citizens of California. He had given Warren some form of renewed life and had recruited various humans to assist in his objectives, including the chairman of PAI, James Pierce, and the late Amy Madison. Now he was raising armies of mutant soldiers as well as vampires and other demons from his apparent headquarters in the caves next to the Maclay family farm.

Tara had watched her love come to terms with what had happened. She listened as Willow told her friends and the others about Osiris. They had been kind and supportive and the spoken words had said it was not Willow's fault. But the undercurrent was there and now Willow was drowning in her own guilt, and that wasn't going to help anyone.

Tara set her jaw and strode confidently over to the loveseat. She waited until Willow looked up at her. She almost lost her resolve when she saw the despair deep in those lovely green eyes, but she knew she had made the right decision and needed to stick with it. "You need to get up."

Willow's eyebrows came together as she pondered Tara's sternness. "Ok." Willow did her best to uncurl her limbs and sit straight looking up at Tara as if waiting for further instruction. "Are you mad at me?"

"No. Well, not yet. But I damn well will be if you choose to just wallow in guilt. There is too much that needs to be done for you to give in to this right now. Frankly, you need to shake it off and get to work." Tara cringed inwardly at her own words, but they appeared to have achieved at least part of her objective when Willow stood up from the loveseat and stayed standing toe to toe with her.

"Really. I need to shake it off, that is your advice? Because you've been in this situation so many times? How dare you! Do you know how many end-of-the world apocalypses I have helped Buffy avert? Do you have any idea the evil I have come face to face with and still functioned?"

Tara didn't move an inch as Willow's anger flared. She waited until her lover had finished talking and made sure to look her in the eye. "No, I don't. But it is my deepest hope that one day you will tell me about every single time you saved the world. Then we will share our stories about this time, and how it became just one more averted apocalypse, hopefully the last."

Now Tara reached down and took both of Willow's hands in her own and brought them to her lips for a brief kiss. "I love you Willow. I love you so much that I am willing to be the focus of your ire if it gets you functioning at your best." After a moment she could see the fire in Willow's eyes cool. "We need your intellect, your power and your experience. You are amazing and we can't do this without you."

Tara waited patiently for Willow to process what she had said, but it didn't take long. Soft lips pressed against her own, followed by a fierce hug. "Thank you. All my friends were saying the 'right things'. But you realized that's not what I needed to hear right now. Sorry I got angry at you."

"I'm not." Tara gave Willow her sexy smile. "The angry redhead version of you is hot."

"Now you say that, when you have made it perfectly clear we have work to do." Willow grumbled. "And don't think for one second you aren't going to help me every step of the way."

Tara gave her a quick chaste kiss. "I'm going to be right here next to you for as long as you will have me."

Willow smiled. "How does forever sound?"

* * *

Buffy asked Willow and Xander to meet with her after dinner that night. They had to have a conversation about how to handle the situation and she needed to spend time with her best friends.

"Hey guys. I realized today that we haven't spent any time together, just us, for weeks. And now we're facing our worst situation in a long time. I want to know what you think we should do, you're honest assessment."

"Buffy, this sucks as high as the suckage meter gets, no question. But we've faced, well not maybe worse, but as least as bad. I think, or maybe not." Xander seemed to run out of steam.

"How about you Will? What do you think?" Buffy was worried about her witchy friend. She knew Willow had the habit of taking on guilt by the truckload and this time it looked like the weight of the world was bearing down on her slim shoulders.

Willow looked from Buffy to Xander and back again. "I'll do whatever I need to do to fix this. I've got some ideas about creating a sort of antidote to the mutant DNA in the soldiers. The samples from Giles have been invaluable and I know I can stop Warren if it comes to magickal battle. I just need to figure out what to do about Osiris."

Buffy nodded. "Well good then. Xander and I and Tara, Anya, Faith, Kennedy, we can all go out for drinks, maybe take in a movie while you handle everything." Buffy walked over and knelt down by her oldest friend. "Will, you are not in this alone. We need your big brain to come up with some brilliant ideas for all of us. You've got a team of slayers including me all waiting to kick some ass in retribution for Giles and Riley is getting some serious firepower support from the Feds. I'll handle the logistics; you focus on the supernatural stuff ok?"

Xander came over and grabbed both women in a bear hug. "And ask Anya to help Will. She knows so much she has forgotten most of it, but if you ask she always comes up with some great information."

Willow couldn't stop the half sob that escaped her throat. "Thank you so much. I love you guys." Willow wiped a couple of stray tears. "I suppose we are planning to do this thing as soon as possible?"

"Riley thinks it would be best to try and stop Osiris and Warren out near the caves before they try to move on the city and I agree. Less risk to innocent civilians. I have called in all the slayers that can get here in the next 24 hours and Riley is working on extra federal troops who won't be freaked out by demons." Buffy looked specifically at Willow again. "But that's only if you are ready. There's no point in bringing the fight to them if we can't win."

With one arm around each of her friends Willow put on her best resolve face. "I'll be ready."

* * *

The convoy of trucks rumbled down the simple paved drive up to the Maclay farmhouse in the late afternoon. Everyone agreed there was no point in attacking during the day as the vampires couldn't come out and they had no intention of forcing the issue into the death traps the caves would represent.

A series of perimeters were established. The outer ring around the edges of the farm was manned by Federal troops unfamiliar with the supernatural, but who were loyal and would follow orders. They were only to be used if the other perimeters failed in a last ditch effort to save the population of the larger cities from decimation.

The middle perimeter was set to cover the farmhouse and barn as well as the roads providing access in and out of the area. These areas were assigned to a few of Riley's troops along with some junior slayers who lacked experience.

That left the core of the Scoobies with the experienced slayers and the remainder of Riley's demon fighting team to head into the orchard and draw out all manner of evil who had set up residence in the caves. They had some ideas if the enemy tried to stay put on how to motivate them to come out, but really they anticipated Osiris and his followers would be anxious to confront Willow and the others.

They were right. Just after dusk the Scoobies left the soldiers at the edge of the tree line and walked into the clearing between the orchard and the hills containing the cave. The scenery was spectacular. The setting sun shone waves of pink and yellow through fluffy clouds lighting the hills in swaths of glorious color. They watched in a line; Faith, Kennedy, Anya, Xander, Buffy, Willow, Tara, and Dawn, until the shadows moved over the hills and left them in growing darkness.

"That was beautiful." Dawn called out to the others. Each felt infused by the power of nature they had just witnessed and supported by the presence of each other. If this was there last stand, at least they were standing together.

The beauty was soon tarnished by the sound of inhuman growls joined by booms as the earth shook from the collective stomping of hundreds of feet. The mutant soldiers appeared first, marching out of the caves in cadenced columns and quickly filling the open space in the hundreds. Now that full darkness had fallen, the vampires came next, fanning out around the soldiers and milling around snarling and snapping. A few demons of other types, including some that looked to be about eight feet tall stayed behind the soldiers.

"I see a group at the back standing in front of the entrance. One of them looks like Warren, but I can't be sure. Definitely several vampires." Faith had great vision even among the supernatural slayers.

"Alright. It looks like all the parties are assembled. Let's deal with the hundreds of mutant soldiers with large muscles and angry expressions first." Buffy announced to the Scoobies. "Slayers? You watch the flanks-keep the vamps at bay while the witches do their stuff."

Buffy clicked on the small microphone attached to her collar. "Riley? We're moving back into the orchard now." Still facing forward, the Scoobies began a slow retreat back into the tree line. When they were obscured, everyone but the witches moved out to the sides of the orchard with the soldiers. The next step relied on the mutants moving straight into the trees together as a group, but the slayers and soldiers were there to herd them from the flanks if necessary.

Willow and Tara stepped backwards deeper into the trees alone. They were in line with a row of canisters that had been left by the soldiers in designated locations throughout the orchard. Now all they could do was wait to see if the mutants took the bait.

Willow had spent most of the previous night devising a way to sever the link Osiris had provided to join the demon and human DNA. The breakthrough had come when she found the human DNA wanted to rejoin preferentially with other human DNA over the Osiris-demon link. Willow found if she introduced human DNA back into the sample, the demon DNA quickly died and the result appeared to be stable normal double-stranded chromosomes.

If her scientific studies were correct, Willow was hopeful she could not only stop the mutant soldiers from attacking, but restore them to who they had been before, for the most part. She would have to use unmutated DNA for the annealing process. Since all of the soldiers they had encountered were male, it made sense to use male DNA, and she only knew one totally normal male who might be available for DNA extraction in the middle of the night.

Xander had been a little baffled when Willow had woken him up at 3am asking to stick a cotton ball on a stick into his mouth, but that was life as a Scooby. Anya had been more concerned about the possibility of hundreds of Xanders running around after Willow had explained why she needed the buccal swab. But Willow had assured them both that the 'Xander' part of the DNA would be a small percentage, if it worked at all.

So here she waited, holding Tara's hand and hoping that the magickally replicated DNA healing potion contained in dozens of canisters around the orchard would take hundreds of mutant soldiers out of the fight before it began. It had been Tara who devised the delivery system, simple and ingenious, using memories of her childhood and a familiar spell, although with boosted power.

Five minutes passed before the soldiers moved. When they did, everyone on the farm knew it. They crushed forward, stomping and swinging clubs and blades from their huge arms. The Scoobies needn't have worried about the mutants skirting the orchard, they simply destroyed it. The trees fell row by row as the mutants grappled and trampled anything in their path, including each other.

When the mutants hit the tree line Willow began her incantation. "Aperio! Ascensio!" It was her responsibility to open the canisters and draw out the solution contained in each. As soon as Willow finished her spell, Tara began her portion. "Obscurus nebula." The DNA solution had to be aerosolized and inhaled by the mutants to be effective. Tara used a supercharged version of her obscuring mist spell to mix the solution into a damp fog which then enveloped the advancing soldiers.

When the first line of mutants began to fall to the ground writhing, the ones behind became confused. Some tripped and fell into the mist themselves, but others sensed something wrong and began to back away.

Willow saw the problem and immediately grabbed Tara's hand and joined in her spell. She used her other hand to wave the dense fog around the back of the troop collection and brought them all forward until every soldier was inoculated by breathing the DNA solution.

As the last mutant collapsed to the ground, the first to have been in the mist began to rouse and stand up shakily. Buffy ran to the closest one and pulled him out from the fog, ready with a sword if it was necessary. With a smile she realized it was not. The former mutant soldier looked confused and shaky trying to walk in a uniform several sizes too large. His expression bore no anger and he quickly dropped the club he had been carrying as he mumbled, "Where am I?"

Buffy clicked on her microphone again to let everyone know. "Phase One complete success, soldiers neutralized. Begin Phase Two, slayers move out." The senior slayer only allowed herself a moment of gratitude. A battle against the mutants and the demons would have gone badly; they would have been significantly outnumbered. But there were still dozens of vampires and other demons to deal with.

Faith, Kennedy and a dozen younger girls ran into the clearing with stakes and swords drawn. They kept the orchard at their backs as the vampires raced towards them, clearly angry at the demise of their army of mutant soldiers. As the distance closed, the fastest vampires regretted their speed when a volley of crossbow bolts flew from the trees and cut them down. Several turned to dust in midstride.

When they reached the slayers, there were still several dozen that Riley's sharpshooters along with Anya, Xander and Dawn had not taken down. When they became too intermixed for crossbow shots, the remaining Scoobies and Riley's troops ran to join the slayers hoping to catch most of the vampires between the two groups of fighters.

For the most part the plan succeeded. The young slayers were holding their own with Faith and Kennedy taking out a few. When the troops and then Buffy joined the fray, the vampires suddenly found their advantage diminishing quickly and as if on command they fled back towards the cave entrance.

A few of the younger troops and slayers began to cheer until Faith cuffed one of them on the arm. "Get your ass in gear. We need to catch them before they get to the caves." Faith began to run, but only took a dozen steps before she saw the vampires had simply gone for reinforcements. "Change of plans. Regroup. The vamps are bringing their big friends back with them this time."

This time the vampires stayed behind the huge demons with scales like armor. The demons moved surprisingly fast and had more agility than the slayers had anticipated. Buffy and Faith attempted a few blows, but found themselves flying through the air and landing hard while the vampires stayed safe and laughed mockingly.

Buffy wasted no time in changing tactics. "Option Road Runner, Option Road Runner!" The senior slayer yelled out to the others and into the microphone.

Immediately Dawn, Xander, Anya and a few of the younger slayers turned and ran for the trees. The more experienced slayers drifted to the sides of the large demons as they passed through in pursuit of the fleeing fighters and closed on the vampires quickly.

"Laugh now you fucking pile of dust!" Faith was going full steam now. She had a long sword in one hand and a stake in the other and was taking out vampires so fast she was creating a small cloud of dust. Buffy and Kennedy methodically cleaned up around her as the vamps tried to avoid the dark slayer.

Closer to the orchard several of Riley's troops were waiting. As soon as their fighters were safe in the orchard they raised up and targeted the large armored demons with the heavy firepower. The demons had enough time to look over and realize their error before the RPG rockets were loosed. Seconds later the field shook with the explosive power of the artillery and macerated demons parts showered the ground as well as the senior slayers and remaining vamps.

"Eewww." Buffy picked a piece of scale covered with green goo off of her shirt. When she looked up Faith and Kennedy were walking towards her breathing hard but seemingly uninjured. Scanning around Buffy saw the field was clear. Only the group near the cave entrance remained.

Buffy clicked her microphone again. "Phase Two complete. Will? Tara? You ready?"

As Buffy asked, the witches appeared at the edge of the tree line and began to walk towards the slayers. "Everyone on alert for Phase Three. The witches are on the move."

Willow took Tara's hand as they began to walk across the open field toward the cave entrance. No one spoke to them as they passed the slayers, but Buffy made sure to keep eye contact with a confident smile.

The Scoobies, slayers and troops filled in behind the witches as they approached the group standing near the cave entrance. Willow stopped about ten yards from the men when a dozen additional vampires emerged from the caves and formed a semi-circle around their leader. She was glad Tara was holding her hand to hide the shaking. She was also terrified that she was putting her love in this danger.

Willow scanned the collection of men standing before her. She recognized all but one. Flint, the chairman of PAI was on the far left next to James Pierce. The far right position was occupied by Warren, the hood of his cloak thrown back, his deformed features obscured in the darkness. The two vampires who had taken James from the Medical Examiner laboratory were there, flanking the figure in the middle.

The god Osiris reflected his Egyptian heritage. He was tall, lean and his copper skin gave off a slightly green glow even in the darkness. His black hair was long and sleek and held back with a simple leather tie. He wore white linen pants and his shirt held the design of the crook and the flail. His eyes focused solely on Willow as she approached.

"Witch. You and your companions have done well to dismantle my army. Warren assures me he could have stopped you in the field, but I have need for him here. An army is easily replaceable and it achieved my main objective which was to draw you to me."

Osiris took one step forward and his vampire guards stayed at his left and right shoulder. "I have waited, trapped among mortals for these years since you called on me to resurrect the slayer. The people no longer worship me, my temples are destroyed."

The god lifted his arms as he spoke. "I am the judger of death, the bringer of rebirth. You, witch, elevated yourself to my status with your spell, trapping me when my vessel shattered. Well now I will judge you and those who accompany you."

Suddenly Xander was lifted in the air, flying over Willow's head to land hard at Osiris's feet. With a gesture Flint and Pierce rushed forward and held him by the arms. As the others watched horrified, both men transformed into vampires and leaned towards Xander's neck, fangs barred.

Willow flung herself forward away from Tara and the others. She prostrated herself before Osiris begging for him to let Xander go. "Please! I know this is my fault. I accept your judgment and will do whatever I can to restore what you have lost."

Buffy and Tara called out together telling Willow not to give up, but Osiris silenced them with a wave.

"I accept your submission. With your power added to mine and what I have granted Warren, I will be able to return to the underworld. I have agreed to allow Warren to remain here and subjugate the mortals who have forgotten my benevolence."

Now Osiris stood directly over Willow. "You will keep the passage between my kingdom below and this place open so that I may pass freely from one to the other and keep my connection with Warren. Of course that will require that you remain in stasis, able to access both places but unable to occupy either. An unpleasant but necessary task which you have earned with your interference. Rise and accompany me."

"Master." Warren spoke for the first time. "Allow me to bring the other witch, as insurance." Warren gave Willow a look as she stood up that showed exactly what his plans for Tara were once she was out of the way. The hatred that bubbled up inside Willow was almost enough to disrupt the plans they had made, but she quickly looked down.

Flint and Pierce dropped Xander and grabbed Tara instead, shoving her towards the cave entrance. Willow and Warren approached the entrance first, with Osiris and his two guards behind. As she stepped into the entryway Willow appeared to weaken, slumping to the side. Osiris drew closer as did Tara with Flint and Pierce at the rear of the group.

When Osiris had gotten as close as Willow thought he would, she turned to him and flung a handful of powder they had prepared the night before at the same time as Tara. As it sprinkled over the god, the witches called out, "Discede!"

Warren looked shocked as the god disappeared. It took the warlock a moment to realize the witches had run into the caves as soon as the spell had been cast. Then he was surrounded by slayers and soldiers. He quickly ordered the vampires to attack and protect him and raced into the entrance after the witches.

He could hear them running through the passageway ahead. They were breathing loudly and their steps were uneven. The spell they had cast on Osiris would have taxed them both, they were probably tired. "Willow? What is the point? You think teleporting a god away will work? At best it is a temporary measure, and now he will be truly angry when he catches you. Maybe he will give you to me. I have some wonderful ideas how we could spend some time together."

Warren couldn't hear any movement now, but he was feeling their magickal signature in the caverns. "Your blonde may not find you as attractive when I'm done with you. An eye for an eye they say. Or skin for skin. But she'll have me to comfort her. Come on Willow, you can't just hide in here! Your friends and the slayers are probably dying outside right now and you aren't even there to help them. What kind of a witchy friend are you?"

As he turned into a deep passageway Warren could hear a quiet chanting and feel an infusion of white magick. He followed the sound until he found himself outside one of the deepest chambers in the hills. He called on his own magick determined to capture Willow and Tara unaware and vulnerable, preparing a binding spell in his mind.

"Hey Warren. You weren't about to bother my friends, were you?" The slayer had been designated to follow Warren and protect the witches. She had to fight through several vampires to get into the caves, but she was here now.

"Buffy. How inconvenient of you. I recommend you not interfere slayer." Warren reinforced his suggestion by flinging Buffy up against the stone wall and watching her slump to the ground. "You don't look so good, my vampires giving you a hard time out there?"

"Were. They are probably all blowin in the wind by now." Buffy gathered her strength and stood up again. "So your backup is gone. Why don't you just give it up Warren?"

Warren laughed. "This isn't like before Buffy. I don't need to hardware to shoot you. Osiris will return, very soon, and his power flows through me. You can't stop what is going to happen."

Buffy leapt toward the warlock who sidestepped her with ease. Warren stepped down the passageway and into the cavern where Willow and Tara had fled. Buffy followed and almost ran into his back before she saw that he had stopped just inside the entrance.

The reason was obvious; Osiris had returned was standing to one side of the cave. Willow and Tara were facing the god, hands clasped as they stood together on the opposite side. The surprise was the final occupant of the cave. Willow had told her what they were going to attempt, the so called Final Stage of the plan, but Buffy was still shocked to see the beautiful woman was really there in the flesh.

* * *

Willow felt like a pinball bouncing off the walls of the passageway, pulling Tara with as much strength as she could muster after they cast the teleportation spell on Osiris. Tara was gasping for breath so she simply pointed when they had to take a turn in the caverns. They had to get to a specific cave for what they wanted to do, and it was deep in the hills.

As they scurried Willow could hear Warren start after them, taunting them, but it didn't matter. If he caught them or even disrupted their plan Osiris would come and finish what he had started.

When they arrived Willow wished she had time to look at the beauty around them. The walls of the cave were covered by crystalline rock which gave off a soft golden glow and the space was filled with deep magickal energy. "Tara, it's perfect."

Both witches drew baggies of sand from their pockets. They quickly formed a circle and sat cross-legged facing each other. Willow also brought out a tyet and placed it between them before taking Tara's hands and beginning to chant.

Just as Xander had predicted, Anya had provided the crucial information for this final stage of their crazy plan. Willow knew she couldn't take on Osiris. The god may have been weakened by being trapped here, but he was not burdened like Glory had been by Ben and defeating the hell god had cost them Buffy's life. They needed help and it was Anya who had thrown out the idea. "Maybe we need a god to fight a god."

The choice was obvious. Isis, the Egyptian goddess of magick, friend of slaves, sinners and the downtrodden, and protector of the dead. Sister and resurrector of the god Osiris.

The incantation Tara designed was a straight forward supplication asking for the assistance of the goddess and her appearance. The witches chanted together with the ancient symbol of the goddess between them on the floor of the cave.

Both Willow and Tara were feeling weak from casting in the orchard and the spell that teleported Osiris was only designed to buy them some time. The incantation to Isis would not succeed based on heavy magickal effort. If Isis appeared, it would be her choice after judging the purity of the request. Both witches knew when their supplication was received. The goddess probed deep into their minds before touching their hearts. An instant later she appeared.

Abruptly the cave was crowded. Osiris found them and moments later Warren ran into the space followed by Buffy.

It was Warren who spoke first. "Master, what should I do?"

Osiris barely acknowledged Warren with a dismissive wave. His attention was entirely focused on Isis. "Did the witches force you here? They will suffer for their actions."

"No. I received their supplication and came to their call because I knew it would bring me to you." Isis moved over to Osiris. "We have missed you brother, you are needed. Your place is in the underworld; it is in disarray without you."

"I have been trapped here by the reckless behavior of the witch. These mortals do not worship us, they act like gods themselves. They should be reminded of our power!" Osiris thundered, his voice echoing off of the walls.

Warren stepped closer and bent to one knee. "Give me the witches, master and I will see they suffer for their actions."

When Warren moved so did Buffy. She slid around the wall of the cave to a position near Willow and Tara. Willow gave her a concerned smile. Buffy looked pretty beat up but as determined as ever.

Isis lifted one hand and placed it softly on her brother's cheek. "Return with me. Together we can leave this place and its petty concerns."

Osiris looked deeply into her eyes and his face softened. "Yes. I had forgotten what was important in my anger. Can you help?"

"We will open a passageway here; the magick is strong in this place." Isis looked around the cave at the others. "Do you need to take care of anything before we depart?"

"Yes." Osiris glared at Willow as he approached. As he drew near Willow dropped Tara's hand, stepped forward and dropped to her knees. "Witch, I have suffered from your audacity in beckoning me to resurrect the slayer and your carelessness in allowing the urn to be broken. What do you have to say for your actions?"

Willow steeled her nerves to speak, but could not stop the shaking of her hands. "I was young and arrogant. But the world needed the slayer, and I needed my friend. I am sorry you were trapped here and I accept whatever punishment you feel is fair and appropriate, just please let Tara and Buffy and the others go."

Tara gasped as Buffy called out, "Willlow no!"

The god simply held up his hand to silence the women. "My sister proposes to open a conduit to the underworld that will allow us to pass. We can accomplish this task without your power witch, however the passageway will remain vulnerable. Demons may try to use it to escape my domain and enter your world against my command."

Osiris reached down and drew Willow up by one arm until she stood before him. "Do you accept the responsibility of acting as guardian, sealing and protecting this place with your magick and your life if necessary?"

Willow looked up into the eyes of the god for the first time to make sure she truly understood his request. Slowly the reality of his statement and the repercussions filled her consciousness. "I will do as you ask."

"So be it." Osiris began to walk back to Isis until Warren hurried in front of him. "You aren't going to punish her master? After everything she has done, you can't let her live! Let me kill her for you." The warlock raised his hand and began to chant until the god glowered at him. "Stop. I snatched you from the jaws of a magickal death, granting you a continued existence. But what I gave you wasn't really life. I could not fully heal the wounds of your skin, or of your soul."

Osiris placed one hand on Warren's shoulder. "You have been a loyal follower and have done everything I asked of you. However you cannot stay here. Without my power to sustain you, the changes I wrought to your body will be lost and you will die. You must come with me and I will grant you a safe place in my kingdom."

Osiris turned back to Isis who smiled and took his hand. Together they began to speak an ancient dialect and power thrummed through the cave. The dirt in the center of the room began to stir and soon a whirlwind appeared in the earth, directed downward and away from the other occupants of the room.

The vortex stabilized and Osiris looked to Isis and Warren and stepped to the edge. Isis started forward but looked at Tara before she proceeded and beckoned the blonde witch over. The goddess touched her face gently and leaned in whispering into her ear for several moments.

As Tara stepped back a pulse of golden light moved from Isis to envelop her. She stumbled until Buffy flashed across the cave and steadied her. Willow got to her a moment later. Before she could ask what had happened all three women could hear Warren's whimpering protests turn into full-fledge screams as he tried to avoid his descent into the vortex.

Osiris strengthened his grip on his servant and the two ancient powers fully entered the opening taking Warren with them. In moments even Warren's cries faded away. The dirt refilled, but when the air settled, a clear circular depression was visible.

The three women stood stunned. Buffy let go of Tara and scouted around the edge of the cave, peeking into the passageway as she passed the entrance. When she got back to the witches she stopped. "Ok. Everything seems safe. So I have two questions, one for each of you. Willow? What just happened and what did you agree to do for Osiris? Tara? What was with the glow?"

"Will, Buffy, I need your help. Sweetie are you up for this? You know what we need to do, Isis gave me the knowledge." Tara walked to the edge where the depression in the earth began.

Willow nodded and took Tara's right hand in her left. She nodded at Buffy to take Tara's other hand. "We need your strength ye' eldest slayer. Osiris and Isis opened a way into the underworld, and this is the door. A door I agreed to shut, apparently with the help of my beloved, and to keep closed."

When Buffy still looked confused Willow sighed. "It's a Hellmouth. We just watched the opening of a new Hellmouth and now we need to close it."

"Well actually Isis did that. We just need to cap our end and she gave me the spell to do so." With that explanation Tara began to chant in the same dialect the god and goddess had used. The seal was created using crystalline fragments of the cave walls which laid down in intricate patterns filling the depression in the ground. By the time Tara had completed the incantation, all three women felt drained and exhausted and slumped to the ground.

As they rested Willow laid Tara's sleeping head in her lap and stroked her soft hair comforting them both. Buffy watched them smiling, thinking that maybe love wasn't destined to remain a stranger in their lives after all. She hoped Riley was outside unharmed and maybe even waiting for her.

"So Will. I heard what you said to Osiris. You agreed to be the guardian of this place, and now you tell me it's a Hellmouth. So I guess that makes you the slayer now?"

Willow laughed. "I may be a guardian now, but I'll never be a slayer. And you know what?"

Buffy shook her head. "What."

"That just means I'll always need you." Willow smiled but her eyes looked scared. "I'm so lucky Buffy, to have you, Xander and now Tara. Don't let me mess this up, Ok?"

Buffy reached out and grabbed Willow's hand. "I promise."


	20. Chapter 20-Epilogue

Chapter Twenty-Epilogue

Two years later.

"Willow, it's time." Tara had discovered her wife sitting in their bedroom, lost in thought as she stared into the vanity mirror applying the last of her makeup.

"Oh. Ooohh, right! I'll be done in just a second." Willow snapped out of her trance. "Wait for me?"

Tara smiled and gave her a quick nod before sitting on the edge of the bed. She watched Willow's lips move silently as she put on just a touch of mascara. "You'll do great sweetie. Your speech is heartfelt; he would have appreciated your kind words."

Willow turned around on the vanity stool. "You think so? I'm not very good with public speaking. Buffy is going to do most of the talking I hope."

Tara stood up and held out her hand. "I know so. I didn't get to know him, but hearing you all talk about him, I'm sure he would be touched that you made this happen, and very proud."

"I owe him this, and for so many other things Tara." Willow took her hand and headed for the door. "A day of celebration, that's what we decided, right?"

Downstairs everything was in a frenzy. Willow laughed as she saw Buffy trying to shoo the young slayers upstairs to get dressed as Xander tried to tell the caterers where to set up. Finally Anya stepped in raising her voice to a level that caused people to stop and listen.

After she succeeded in pointing everyone in the right direction, Anya walked over to Willow and Tara who were still standing at the base of the stairs. "You could help you know." She poked Tara in the shoulder. "Especially you, you're not giving a speech today."

Willow grasped Tara's hand tightly against her chest. "But I need her for moral support." At Willow's pout Anya gave an exasperated groan and walked away. "Let's go see how everything looks outside."

The witches emerged out of the large patio doors to find the backyard had been transformed. A small stage was set up with a podium and a few chairs and more chairs faced the stage in rows. Flowers and draping adorned the sides. The gathering was not large, a few dozen people, but Willow wanted it to be special and fitting for the man they were honoring. Nature had decided to cooperate, never a given in Northern California, but the spring day was beautiful.

Willow walked with Tara down to the small stage and they sat on the edge looking back at the house. Calling it a house was somewhat of a disservice. The structure was more like a lodge. The first floor contained huge living and dining areas as well as the kitchen. An enormous classroom and training room jutted out from one side. Offices for Buffy and Willow completed the sprawling level. The second floor contained living spaces for Willow and Tara, Buffy and a few other instructors. The third floor held dozens of dorm style rooms for the newly called slayers who arrived from all corners of the world, mostly confused and afraid, for a year of schooling and training all courtesy of the new Council.

It helped that the chairman, or chairwoman in this case, of the Council was Willow Rosenberg, who also lived and taught at the school with her wife of 18 months.

"This day is almost as nice as our wedding day." Willow smiled at the thought.

"I liked being at the edge of the orchard. The blooming trees were beautiful." Tara stroked her thumb gently over the back of Willow's hand.

"Not as beautiful as you were. I almost couldn't get my vows out I was so short of breath when I saw you." Willow leaned her head gently against Tara's shoulder lost in the memory.

"Hey, how come you two get to be out here all calm and happy while I'm stuck on baby slayer sitting duty?" Buffy called out from the patio. Secretly Buffy couldn't be more pleased to see her friends enjoying themselves. After sealing the Hellmouth Willow had worked herself to exhaustion to make sure everyone was safe and everything as secure as she could make it. After two months she, Tara and Xander had staged an intervention, forcing Willow to admit her guilt at the existence of the new source of potential evil and to accept help in planning for a future where they all could help and do some good as well.

That discussion had led to the decision to build the new slayer house on the Maclay farm throwing distance from the new Hellmouth, well throwing distance to the orchard if you were a really strong slayer. Willow took on the research and administrative duties of the council and Buffy agreed to serve as in-house instructor to the newly called slayers. Buffy laughed to herself as she thought how she and Willow were destined to end up living together into old age after all.

As soon as California had legalized same sex marriage Tara asked Willow to be her wife. Willow didn't answer at first, allowing her fear from what she saw as her past mistakes cloud her ability to see a long happy future. Luckily Tara patiently remained on one knee and refused to let go of Willow's hand until she said yes, so the decision only took about ten minutes of Willow wriggling and protesting until she let her heart answer. The wedding had been one of the happiest days of all their lives.

Buffy looked around also taking in the beauty of the day. Off to her left she saw Riley and Dawn getting out of his truck and waved at them to join her. Seeing them walking together out here on the farm made her think back to the night of the new Hellmouth as she called it.

She had recovered from Tara's spell in the cave first and helped the witches up. All three of them had gazed down in wonder at the crystalline seal covering the opening to the underworld. It had a unique beauty, so different from the hard bronze cover that had tried to protect them from the Sunnydale Hellmouth. Buffy wondered if this one would be more powerful due to the influence of the goddess and Tara's light magick.

They had left the cave together, supporting one another, until they found their way back out and into the still dark field. That was when Buffy had seen Riley and Dawn arm in arm headed for her. Dawn had flung her arms around her neck and hugged her tighter then she could ever remember. When Dawn let go to embrace Willow and Tara, Riley had quickly taken Dawn's place and had lifted Buffy from the ground in his embrace. "We were so worried about you. I don't think I want to ever let you go." Buffy hadn't been able to answer verbally, she just squeezed the tall man tighter and tucked her head into his shoulder.

Riley's job still had him traveling all over the world, but he had kept San Francisco as his home base and spent as much time as he could with her at the farm. She was happier than she had ever been, and it was enough for now.

More guests were arriving. Faith had come with a small contingent from Cleveland and Kennedy and her girlfriend had brought the San Francisco slayers. When Buffy had looked around the field that dark night two years ago, she saw Dawn and Riley with several of his men as well as Xander. But Faith, Kennedy and Anya were nowhere in sight.

Xander had stepped in and hugged her when Riley finally put her down. "The older vamps and the new ones they made from Pierce and Flint? They were really strong. They got to one of the younger slayers and a couple of Riley's men, drained them. Kennedy kind of went berserk and they hurt her, bad. Faith got the older ones and I took care of Flint myself. The soldiers have Pierce in a truck over by the orchard. Faith carried Kennedy to the car and Anya was taking them to the hospital.

Willow had insisted on seeing James Pierce and dealing with him herself. She had walked to the truck, leaving Tara a short distance away with a promise to be safe. Buffy never knew what conversation had transpired, but it had been short. Willow had levitated a stake into his heart and walked away without looking back.

Thankfully Kennedy's wounds had consisted mostly of broken bones and bruises. Her head was clear and she had no internal bleeding, so with slayer healing she was out of the hospital in a week. She stayed at the firehouse during her recovery, and when the Scoobies had made the plans to build at the farm, Kennedy asked if she could stay at the firehouse. Since Xander and Anya were staying in their apartment, it made sense to keep a slayer there.

Faith had decided quickly to return to Cleveland. An active Hellmouth was still there and needed to be dealt with, even without Giles. Faith had reported several months later that she had been dusting fewer vamps and seeing fewer demons. The numbers seemed to be in direct proportion to the increase in activity that was occurring around Sacramento and San Francisco. Willow had announced, "The gravitational pull of evil has equilibrated to account for the new potential access to hell."

When Riley and Dawn greeted her with hugs on the patio Buffy decided she had spent enough time dwelling in the past. Today was about acknowledging what had happened and who they had lost while celebrating the completion of construction on the house and looking forward to the future.

Willow watched as Buffy seemed lost in contemplation. She was loathe to interrupt as one who had spent countless hours in such a state herself. Before the past could absorb her again the patio doors opened to reveal Elise. Willow smiled, waved and jumped up to go greet her friend. Elise was one of the few invitees who was not directly related to the council or the Scoobies.

"I am so glad you made it! I miss you." Willow called out as soon as she got close to her friend.

"Well, you were the one who quit and left me to run the office all by myself. It's amazing I forgave you, that place was a mess after James, eh, disappeared and Dr. Banks retired. But no, you just had to keep your promise to a god and move out here to the sticks."

Willow smiled and hugged her gently. "I'm glad you understand. I can still make things happen on the 'difficult cases' you get sometimes. I have certain resources now that I didn't have as a medical examiner. Besides, you would have been a terrible boss for me, I would have run wild."

"You're probably right." Elise looked around at the stage and decorations for the celebration. "This looks really nice Will. I know it's really for Giles and what you all have accomplished out here, but a part of me wants to think it's also for the others, like Duncan Green, who were also victims. And maybe just a bit for James Pierce who was a victim of his own greed."

"Wow, you're right, but who knew you could be so sentimental!" Willow laughed and Elise soon joined her.

Tara was watching Buffy and Willow great their guests when she saw one of her own and hopped up off the stage. "Hey Donnie."

"Hey Sis." Donnie picked Tara off the ground in a bear hug and squeezed until she squealed and begged him to put her down, both of them laughing.

"I'm so glad you came over for this, I want you to feel like you are part of this family Donnie." Tara gave him a quick kiss of the cheek.

After the chairman of PAI had disappeared and the 'truth' minus demons about the pacification program had come out there had been substantial changes in the California criminal justice system. Most of the non-violent offenders who had been subject to pacification were released on probation. Donnie had pled guilty to a minor possession charge when the witnesses to the distribution charges had also disappeared. With Riley representing him, the judge had given him time served and probation and he had happily returned to the farm.

For a year he had lived at the farmhouse with Tara and Willow and surprisingly they had settled into a comfortable routine. The farm and the orchard needed a lot of help after the battle and Donnie threw himself into the work. He said his time in jail had shown him what mattered and he was determined to do something with his life. He was even dating a nice girl he had met in Sacramento. Now that the slayer house was finished, he had the farmhouse to himself.

"To be honest, I've been lonely. Besides I heard this was all you can eat."

Tara laughed again. "Let's find seats, I think they are about to begin."

Everyone got settled with the Scoobies in the front row. A framed photo of Giles was next to the podium on the stage and Willow thought he would have hated it. He never liked the attention on himself. She had asked to speak first since she would just be nervous until she was done and this way she could pay attention to everyone else.

"Hey everyone, um, thanks for coming. We've wanted to do something special for Giles for a long time and this seemed like the right opportunity. Giles was everything to many of us, or maybe I should say he was something different and special to each of us: teacher, watcher, mentor, disciplinarian, friend and father figure. None of us from Sunnydale really had a positive paternal influence in our lives, but Giles took us all in, not just Buffy, and made us a family. He invited us into his home and made us tea and British food and watched us grow up and make mistakes and stumble. Through it all he was there to give us what we needed, even if it wasn't what we wanted. And up to the end he provided what no one else could, costing him his life. He was a great man who spent his whole life protecting people who would never know about him and he didn't care about recognition. But we do. So welcome to the Rupert Giles Training Academy. As the Chair of the Council I will strive to be a fraction of what he was for the slayers and for the world."

Willow returned to her seat next to Xander as Buffy walked up to the podium. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze and a smile. "You did great."

"Thanks."

The ceremony went on, food was consumed and tours of the facility were given. By the time the last guests had departed and the caterer had packed up the Scoobies were exhausted. Xander and Anya were staying in a guest room and went immediately to bed leaving Buffy, Willow and Tara alone. It was Tara that sent the slayer on her way.

"Get some rest Buffy, you deserve it. Everything was wonderful today."

Buffy couldn't help but smile at Tara's assertiveness. "Yes ma'am, I will. Thank you for your help as always. You know this place runs as smoothly as it does because of you."

Tara blushed and started to argue until Willow interjected. "Don't argue with the slayer my love. She's right anyway."

Buffy got up to head to bed but stopped to give Willow a big slayer hug on the way. "None of this would have happened without you either, Guardian. You've done good and I love you."

"I love you too Buffy." Willow choked out with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Willow fell back onto the king sized four poster bed that Tara had insisted they deserved for their bedroom. She was really glad when Tara got insistent about a lot of things. It had been a long emotional day but she was feeling a sense of real contentment now, like everything was the way it should be. Not perfection, but real life. A life with Tara that she wasn't sure she deserved, but was incredibly grateful for every single day.

Tara was busying herself around the room getting out pajamas and closing the window shades. She also took the opportunity to light a few candles and turn off the lamps before kneeling down to slip off Willow's shoes and start to work on her skirt.

"Can't wait to get me naked?" Willow joked from her supine position on the bed.

Tara stood up and stripped her clothing off without delay. "Maybe I want us both naked."

Willow looked up at the goddess that was her wife. The sight of her bare breasts and curvy hips never failed to incite a reaction in her, usually accompanied by a flood of wetness in her panties, and this time was no different. "Wow. Tara you are so beautiful." Willow held out her arms and Tara snuggled into her side. "I don't know what I did to deserve you in my life, but I thank every god and goddess that you are and I promise I will tell you and show you how much I love you every day."

"Sweetie you do. You've worked so hard to make everything right, to protect everyone, to run the Council and to start this school. You're magick is so strong and light now. I never thought I would feel so special, so loved, and that's all you Willow." Tara had worked her wife's remaining clothing off as she spoke. "I love showing you how much you mean to me, intimately."

They kissed, slow and languorous, until a low moan emanated from Willow's throat. When Tara pulled slightly away Willow opened her eyes to see why.

"Baby?"

"Willow, it's time." Tara's expression had changed. Suddenly she looked apprehensive, almost scared.

Willow sat up taking in the glow of the candlelight behind Tara's face, only she realized the light was coming from Tara, a soft golden halo the surrounded her body. "Tara? Time for what? What's happening?"

Tara's face calmed and she took Willow's hand between her own. "Sweetie? You remember in the cave, at the end when Isis called me over?"

"Yes, she gave you the incantation to seal the Hellmouth, and it's worked perfectly. I mean the demons are attracted to the power, but they can't get through at all. Oh god, is there something wrong? Do we need to get out there and do a spell?" Willow was trying to pull away but Tara just held her hand tighter.

"No Will, no. It's nothing like that." Tara waited until her lover quieted down before continuing. "Isis gave me something else that night. After the incantation she told me she was granting me a gift, granting us a gift. She said I would know when it was time to use what she gave us."

"Isis gave us a gift? What is it, what do we have to do?" Willow's eyebrows were furrowed deep in thought in that way that Tara found unbearably cute.

"Honey, Isis has many forms, many powers. She came to us that night in the cave as the goddess of magick, but the gift she gave us was as the goddess of fertility. She gave us the ability to create life, to have a child of our own."

Tara wasn't sure what to do when Willow sat on the bed frozen, her hand limp, her bottom lip hanging slightly open. "Willow?"

Willow blinked once and then a second time before launching herself forward, pushing Tara to the bed and capturing her lips in a fierce kiss. "Are you sure? I mean are we ready for a family? What if I mess it up, I am the Guardian now and we are in danger all the time and what if I can't control my magick? You'd be an awesome mom of course, but me?"

Tara quietly smoothed some stray hair back from Willow's face and waited until she ran out of steam. "Our child will be so lucky to have you as a mom. She will be smart, loving, loyal and so many other wonderful things. I want this with you, if you do too."

"She?" Willow whispered. "We could have a little girl? With blonde hair and big blue eyes?"

Tara nodded. "I think that is part of the deal, we can only have a girl. With red hair and sparkling green eyes."

"Oh Tara, I want to. I can't think of anything more perfect than having a child with you." Willow leaned down and this time the kiss was soft and passionate. "Uh, not to sound crass, but are there any special techniques we need to use?"

Tara laughed. "I don't think so. Just make love to me. Make me feel like you always do."

"I can do that." Willow didn't waste any time in bringing her lips to Tara's neck, trailing kisses down the creamy skin and then across her collarbone. One hand was already busy working the pliable flesh of Tara's breast, the thumb rubbing across the nipple until it stood ready for her lips to grasp.

Tara laid back and allowed Willow to love her. Normally she would be thinking about how soon she could enjoy reciprocating, but tonight, under the blessing of the goddess, she allowed herself to simply be pleasured. Willow was taking her time. She moved from one breast to the other, massaging with her hand as she stroked and sucked with her lips, then nipped and tugged with her teeth until Tara was moaning constantly.

Only then did Willow move her hand reaching down between their bodies, to find Tara was soaking wet. Her fingers slid without friction between Tara's outer lips and were immediately coated. Willow took the opportunity to bring her hand back up to show Tara her glistening fingers before taking them in her own mouth and licking them clean. "So wet and so good." Now Willow was the one moaning as she spoke.

"Make love to me Willow, I need you inside." Tara spread her legs wide trapping her wife between her thighs. She knew the instant Willow complied not only from the amazing feeling of fullness and completion, but also because the golden halo that had surrounded her now shifted out to envelope Willow as well.

They moved as one, loving and being loved, both sensing the magick of the goddess' gift as Tara reached her peak and cried out Willow's name.

Soon they found themselves embracing comfortably while they watched the glow of the goddess slowly dissipate. But they both knew without a doubt that the gift had been granted and Tara was carrying their child. They gave thanks to Isis and quiet devotions to each other and spent the rest of the night making love.

When the first light of dawn filtered into the room Willow and Tara showered and dressed. Tara packed muffins, fruit and coffee into a basket and they walked hand in hand to the orchard without saying a word.

Willow had her back against a tree and Tara snuggled into her front as they watched the sun rise over the hills. "It's a new day for us isn't it?" Willow asked.

"Yes, a really good one." Tara felt contentment in every cell in her body.

"I can't wait for her to get here. Is it crazy to say I already love her so much?"

"Only if we are both crazy, I feel the same way."

Willow hugged Tara closer. "Do you feel it? How everything is going to be ok?"

Tara nodded into Willow's shoulder. "I do. Our own happily ever after."

The End

* * *

AN: Thanks for reading! I've left this story open for a sequel if the mood ever strikes. For now I'm publishing a story for Orange is the new Black, but I have several BTVS story ideas that I promise to get back to in future months. Take care everyone!


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